By Nana Kwame Essel, GNA
Twifo Abodom (C/R), Nov. 3, GNA – Farmers living along the River Osen in the Twifo- Atti-Morkwa District of the Central Region are calling on the government to urgently stop illegal mining that has resumed at the boundary of the Subiri Forest Reserve in the Western Region.
According to Mr kofi Acquah and Mrs Juanita Asamoah, both farmers, the illegal miners, who were previously driven away, have returned with two excavators, a “pop action” machine, and other equipment and were operating day and night.
They cited for instance that on Monday, October 6, the activities of the illegal miners polluted the River Osen, which flows from the Western Region to the Central Region and was a vital water source for drinking, farming, and other domestic uses for communities in and around Twifo-Atti-Morkwa.
It took the intervention of the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Twifo-Atti-Morkwa and three Assembly Members to chase the miners away during their earlier operation.
However, residents said the miners had resurfaced at the Subiri Forest Reserve near the Wassa Osenso area in the Wassa East District of the Western Region and now claim they had a license from the Minerals Commission to mine at the boundary of the forest reserve.
The affected communities fear that if the situation is not addressed, particularly before the rainy season, they may lose access to water for farming and household chores as well as clean drinking water.
They appealed to the government to act immediately to stop the illegal mining activities before the situation worsened.
In an interview with DCE for Wassa East, Mr Alhassan Ibrahim the miners came to his office with a prospecting license, but not a license to mine in the Area.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey/Linda Asante Agyei