Government is taking steps to stop illegal mining activities gaining notoriety in the Bole district of the Northern Region.
The trade is rampant especially in the Banda-Nkwanta area where so far several deaths have been recorded.
Reports have it that eight dead bodies were recently retrieved from mining pits which caved on some illegal miners.
Citi News gathered that some students in the Bole district have abandoned school and were engaged in the trade.
It was also uncovered that some politicians were deeply involved in the trade, hence the difficulty in stopping it.
Reliable sources there on grounds of anonymity told Citi News that some chiefs in the Banda-Nkwanta area were supporting the illegal miners.
The illegal miners have by extension invaded the Bui National Park and continued to deplete the environment.
Several water bodies have been polluted whilst farmlands have also been destroyed.
It is against this backdrop government is taking steps to overturn the trade.
At a meeting with the Minister for Science, Environment and Technology, Mahama Ayariga during his recent working visit, the chief of Banda-Nkwanta, Duwa-Wura, Joseph Kelli Sakara reiterated the need for government to either authorize the trade or stop harassing the miners.
Mahama Ayariga condemned the trade but maintained that government would adopt dialogue as the best approach to stop the trade.
“Mining is a perfectly legal business if done according to law: what is happening is that they are not doing it according to law.”
He said, “That is why for me I want to engage them and use dialogue to find a lasting solution to the problem.”
According to the Minister, government was spending huge sums on evacuating people trapped under the mining pits.
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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonlne.com/Ghana