The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has issued a stern warning to persons mining in forest reserves and water bodies.
He says the government is not going to spare such persons involved in the destruction of forest reserves and pollution of water bodies in its renewed efforts to curtail illegal mining.
The Minister has declared war against such persons engaging in the illegal mining business otherwise known as ‘galamsey’, irrespective of the political affiliation.
During a tour to the Offin-Shelterbelt forest reserve within the Nkawie Forest district of the Ashanti region where a joint military-police task force has driven out all miners from the enclave, he maintained that whoever ventures into the restricted zone would not be spared henceforth.
“This is the only reason why we live, this is why we breathe. This is where we get everything that will keep us as human beings alive. So when you see this devastation at the heart of the Offin River which takes its source from here, what few of our own people are doing to us is that they have come to basically kill us where it matters most.
“My message to our young people who want to do mining is that there is a pathway for doing the right mining. But we are not going to spare anybody who ventures to do illegal mining in our reserves and we’ve made it clear,” he warned sternly.
He was confident that the move by the government to repel L.I. 2463 which grants permit for mining in forest reserves would help the move to protect the forest reserves since even the President would not have the power to grant such authority for mining in the restricted zones.
Meanwhile, TV3’s Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Ibrahim Abubakar, reports some individuals have been arrested and 15 excavators seized.
Photos: Police in Western Region arrest 7 Chinese and 8 Ghanaians for galamsey in Ankobra River
