Hundreds of pupils in two basic schools at Anyinam in the Atiwa East District Assembly of the Eastern Region are in danger as they risk falling into abandoned illegal mining pits near the schools.
The schools are; Anointed Preparatory School and Methodist Primary Basic School, which are less than 20 meters away from these abandoned illegal mining pits.
But currently, a reclamation exercise by the Atiwa East District Assembly, led by its Chief Executive, Ernest Owusu Ntim, in various parts of the communities affected by the illegal mining is currently ongoing.
These illegal mining sites in areas such as Ahenkrasu, Nanapa, and Train Station, among others, were left abandoned over years ago after the illegal miners depleted the gold mineral resources but failed to reclaim them, thereby posing danger to these communities.
At the Anointed Preparatory School and Methodist Primary Basic School, the fear of pupils falling into the pits is clear since the pits have been covered with weeds.
Residents fear should a pupil fall into the pit, that could spell doom for him or her, thereby prompting early reclamations.
Currently, vast land at Train Station has been reclaimed, while that of Ahenkrasu, Nanapa, and other places is ongoing.
The Head of the Atiwa East District Assembly Taskforce, Abanga Bashiru, in an interview with Onua News on the reclamation exercise, said the District Chief Executive, Ernest Owusu Ntim, saw the danger these abandoned illegal mining pits are posing to these communities and, as such, brought out the initiative of reclaiming these sites.
He said the communities know all those involved in the illegal mining, so they took the initiative of contacting them all to sign an undertaking to reclaim the lands after they are done.
“We know them, so we trace them, take their names, and let them fill out the forms, and if they fail, we arrest them and take them to court, so sometimes if we don’t use force, they don’t want to adhere to the directives,” he explained.
Mr. Abanga said the Assembly will keep identifying those involved in this illegal mining and leave the pits for them to go back and reclaim the lands.
“We have this in our district plan to use the land for school and other recreational purposes for the people to benefit,” he added.
The Anyinam Zonal Director for the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Augustine Agyei, who was seen at a reclamation site at the time of our visit, told Onua News that the danger posed by the abandoned pits is enormous.
“We are ready to reclaim these to save the children in these schools because they could be victims during break time while playing,” he explained.
Mr. Agyei promised to complete the reclamation at these two schools in the next two weeks.
Blue Water Guard challenges
The leader for the Ghana Blue Water Guard, Ibrahim Yahuza, admitted their work is very difficult, but they promise to work effectively.
He said they need vehicles, motorbikes, and other logistics to work effectively.
Mr. Yahuza said they have been able to arrest some excavators that were being used for illegal mining purposes and bring them to the assembly but promised to ensure the water bodies in the Atiwa District are clean.
DCE’s response
The Atiwa East District Chief Executive, Ernest Owusu Ntim, said Atiwa is a mining and farming community, so it is his dream to ensure mining is done and done well without any impact.
He said mining should have been done by the wealthy people in society due to its nature, but the character of those involved is not permitting the assembly to allow only wealthy people to be involved.
He said the assembly formed a taskforce to supervise those involved in the mining sector.
“If you are working as a miner in Atiwa District, we make sure we come to you periodically to supervise the work you are doing, to ensure you reclaim the land after depletion of gold and work outside water bodies, and we shall continue to do that,” the DCE added.
Use of reclaimed land
Mr. Ntim noted that most of the reclaimed lands can be used for residential purposes while others can be used for farming purposes.
“The Assembly will look at what each of these reclaimed lands can be used for. With time, some can be used for farming, but time will tell. It is in our plans by the development committee to look at these developments,” he explained.
Reacting to the comments by the Ghana Blue Water Guards that are working in the district and their challenges, the DCE said the assembly has two pickups for their operations, but noted that logistics will be required.
Mr. Ntim promised to provide them amenities such that they would be able to fight illegal miners and put the water bodies back to their original glory.
