By Emmanuel Gamson
Takoradi, Dec. 4, GNA – Mr Ebenezer Kofi Aidoo, the Ahanta West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), in the Western Region, has pledged his commitment to fighting illegal mining activities in the municipality.
He said this when the Municipal, and Western Regional Security Council jointly conducted a swoop on galamsey activities at Boukrom, a community within the municipality.
Boukrom has recently become a hotspot for illegal mining, devastating vast farmlands and encroaching dangerously close to residential areas.
This finding comes after weeks of surveillance by Blue Water guards and National Security, who mapped numerous galamsey sites across the enclave.
However, acting on intelligence, a joint task force from the Western Naval Command and National Security, backed by Municipal Blue Water Guards, conducted a major operation against illegal mining activities in the community.
The team successfully seized, one excavator, 17 water pumping machines, the control board of a second excavator, and the arrest of two suspects.
Mr Aidoo, speaking after the operation, said he would put in place strategies to ensure Ahanta West was a “no-go-area” for galamsey activities.
He added that anyone arrested for illegal mining in the area would first be compelled to reclaim and rehabilitate the land they had destroyed, before facing further legal prosecution.
Brigadier General Musah Whajah (Rtd.), the Western Regional National Security Liaison Officer, stated that these operations would be sustained to ensure that communities across the region were safe from destruction by illegal miners.
GNA
Edited by Justina Paaga/Christian Akorlie