Ghana Environmental Advocacy Group decries galamsey activities in River Ankobra

She said the government and traditional rulers seemed to be losing the fight against the illegal mining activities, otherwise known as ‘galamsey’.

The illegal miners seem to have adopted another modus operandi in perpetuating the social canker a few months after the ministers of the Interior, and Lands and Natural Resources instituted a taskforce to clamp down on their operations, she said.

Madam Allua Vaah said government’s focus on community mining as a means of job creation was not helping as both community mining and galamsey resulted in the wanton destruction of arable lands, forests and water bodies.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Takoradi, she mentioned Gwira-Banso, Amgbrazee, Akropong, Awolezong as areas in the Nzema-East Municipality of the Western Region where galamsey activities had polluted the River Ankobra with filth and chemicals, thereby endangering the lives of the people and marine eco-species.

Madam Allua Vaah, therefore, urged the Gwira Traditional Council, the Nzema-East Municipal Assembly, the Member of Parliament, and opinion leaders to take concrete steps to halt the practice.

A visit by the GNA to the northern part of the River Ankobra revealed that galamsey activities were on-going and intelligence gathered was that most of the illegal miners operated at night.

The Assembly Member for Gwira-Dominase, Mr James Akpor, confirmed activities of illegal mining in some Gwira communities and bemoaned the pollution of the Ankobra, the main source of drinking water for residents.

He appealed to the Government to act quickly to abate the nuisance.

The Nzema-East Municipal Chief Executive, Madam Elizabeth Dorcas Amoah, said the Assembly was taking steps to mechanize community mining in some localities to generate jobs and stop the galamsey activities in the river.

“There is no facility now for patrol on the river at the moment. We have a boat but no outboard motors,” she said, adding: “Most of the operations were done at the northern part of the river, which flows downstream so it’s difficult targeting the southern part alone”.

Mr Kofi Arko Nokoe, the MP for Evaloe-Adjomoro Gwira, told the GNA that; “It will be difficult to stop that thing due to non-existent jobs”.

The Chief of Gwira-Banso, Nana Ete Akrade, said there was no galamsey activities at the Gwira-Banso side of the Ankobra River.
GNA