By Victoria Agyemang
Dunkwa on-Offin (C/R), July 16, GNA – The Upper Denkyira East Municipality Assembly is set to reclaim all illegal mining sites for agricultural purposes.
The Assembly says the move will serve as a source of employment and livelihoods and provide food for the people and restore hope for the future generation.
Mr George Anane Coleman, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), told the GNA in an interview that the current incessant crusade against illegal mining activities in the Metropolis was part of government’s resetting agenda.
He stated that it was imperative to ensure the perpetrators used their machines to reclaim the land by covering abandoned pits before driving them away from the area.
‘We will ensure they bear the cost of covering the pits before chasing them out to save the government the huge costs involved in that exercise.
To achieve it collectively, Mr Anane said he had instituted a committee of all relevant stakeholders in the area to foresee the initiative.
The Assembly, he said, was considering exploring irrigation systems and crop diversification to provide employment to the youth interested in agriculture in the area to improve the standard of living of the people.
Though there have been challenges in ensuring the full execution of the initiative, the government and Assembly remained resolute and committed in reclaiming the lost forest and environment for posterity.
Mr Anane noted that illegal mining in the area was not just an environmental crisis but a systematic threat affecting water, livelihoods and education.
He called on all stakeholders to get on board to help empower the communities to ensure enforcement policies were achieved while long-term solutions in sustainable land use, and strong local- government partnership were being devised.
Illegal Mining in the Upper Denkyira East Municipality has over the years caused severe environmental and social damage needed collective efforts in its reclamation.
Rivers like Offin, Mansi and Subin have turned yellow and muddy, killing fish, clogging waterways and endangering aquatic ecosystems.
Again, arable lands used for rice, vegetables, and cocoa have been overtaken by the miners, with mining pits and river diversion disrupting natural drainage posing disaster risks on communities during rainy season.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey/Benjamin Mensah