By Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Takoradi, March 19, GNA – The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has confiscated 100 excavators and destroyed 3,000 Chanfangs in a crackdown on illegal mining.
The NAIMOS was also working to reclaim 800 acres of land in the Ashanti Region to restore degraded illegal mining areas.
Colonel Dominic Buah, the Director of Operations NAIMOS, shared these findings as key stakeholder reflecting on the drivers, impacts and governance challenges during a Regional Validation workshop organised by the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Centre on Safety and security ecosystem of illegal mining in Ghana.
Colonel Buah said the Department was committed to making illegal mining unprofitable through increasing operation costs on the part of perpetrators.
He said the country now has seven endemic regions where illegal mining has caused havoc to communities’ health, wellbeing and development.
The illegal mining sector, continued to expose Ghana to wrongful foreign intrusion without appropriate documentation and passage widen the loopholes in the security architecture of state as well as making the country vulnerable to violence extremism, terrorism and tug activities.
He said so far, NAIMOS operations have arrested 109 Chinese, 32 Nigerans, two Indians, and one Vietnamese.
Colonel William Nortey, a former Lead in Operation Halt and Vanguard, said the form illegal mining had taken demanded a collective approach to control the sector and transform it into a national asset that raked in revenue for the state and not just individuals handling the resources of state in an abhorrent manner.
“Let get to work, all political parties must resolve to develop real time strategies, Civil Societies must pay attention to the sector and begin tangible advocacy while, the NCCE is resourced and deployed to carry out education on the negative effects of illegal mining, ” he added.
He proposed drivers of the illegal mining trade: access to excavators, dredgers, floating platforms, cyanide, mercury and explosives must be tightly controlled…these are the fuels and we need the state to be strict on their acquisition and ownership.
Nana Egya Kwamina XI, Apremdohene called for love of country to transcend parochial gains.
He said the future of the country was seriously at risk as the youth, key human resource for any country’s development were at the centre stage of this crime…”they are not going to school, others are into prostitution and all manner of socially misfit activities.”
Nana Egya Kwamina XI said “Black Diamond and Hotel Rwanda” movies should serve as a wakeup call to the authorities to redeem the country from the growing social, human and national security threats disguised in illegal mining.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/Benjamin Mensah