NAIMOS cracks down on galamseyers - Hundreds rounded up, equipment set ablaze
Hundreds of illegal miners have been rounded up and their equipment burnt or seized at a major illegal mining site in the Western Region as the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) intensifies its operations against the environmental crime, otherwise known as galamsey.
The NAIMOS Task Force stormed Gangway, a settlement at Aboso, a place officials have described as a “crime-infested community” in the Prestea-Huni Valley District and a hub of illegal mining and narcotic activities, setting makeshift structures ablaze.
The task force also seized narcotics and impounded or destroyed equipment during last Monday’s operation.
It was a swoop that took the Gangway community unawares, ruining the otherwise serene environment that had provided the perfect setting for their illicit businesses.
NAIMOS had undertaken a similar operation in the area in June this year, during which the task force warned criminal gangs and galamseyers to vacate the area.
Earlier warning
The warning was not heeded as time passed without any hint of a possible disturbance of the galamsey community’s supposedly serene system until Monday’s operation happened.
Items and structures of the miners set ablaze
Providing an update on the government’s fight against illegal mining, Government Spokesperson and Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, said the NAIMOS onslaught was “a significant operation in the Western Region, targeting notorious galamsey hideouts”.
He said several makeshift structures serving as hideouts and drug bases for the large population of youth were set ablaze, and galamsey equipment was destroyed.
Furthermore, several hundred locals, mostly galamseyers, surrendered to the task force, he added.
Those individuals, Mr Kwakye Ofosu stated, were involved in various social vices, including illegal mining, narcotics trading or use, and gambling.
At least 11 parcels of Indian hemp were seized at the site alongside other hard drugs.
According to Mr Kwakye Ofosu, the NAIMOS Task Force conducted other anti-galamsey operations in the Dadwen-Domping areas of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, also in the Western Region, before reaching Gangway for the prime operation.
During those side operations, the task force seized 15 water pumping machines and one power generator set, destroyed three changfangs, and set ablaze other structures and equipment belonging to the illegal miners.
Last Monday’s raid on Gangway is one of the latest by state authorities to overcome the galamsey menace.
Recently, various bodies have intensified the campaign against the illegal mining scourge, calling on the government to do more to end the devastation of the environment.
Some reports suggest the discovery of heavy metal traces in various food chains in the country, all of which is considered the result of wanton illegal mining practices in the country.
Last Friday, President John Dramani Mahama convened a meeting with civil society organisations during which the government outlined its strategy and ongoing measures to combat the menace.
The President further insisted that the campaign against illegal mining would be sustained through stronger enforcement, new technologies and closer collaboration with civil society organisations.
He, however, emphasised that the approach would require significant financial resources while maintaining that he would declare a state of emergency in relation to illegal mining once National Security so advised.
