Barely a week after Citi News reported on the return of illegal miners in some communities in the Eastern Region, another notorious group has returned to mine illegally in the Pra River at Daboase in the Western Region.
Officials of the Ghana Water Company (GWCL), who were on their routine assessment of bodies, run onto illegal miners on the Pra River.
[contextly_sidebar id=”tNTCSuPE75pAPL4Y0WxkGxMvZxVlkFkN”]Complaining to Citi News, the Regional Communications Manager for the GWCL in charge of Western and Central Regions, Nana Yaw Barnie, said the Police were helpless when they were contacted to arrest them.
He narrated that “we saw the people there, they were still working a day after the ultimatum. I even spoke on Citi FM concerning this same matter and after that the people left and just last week Thursday when we went there again, they had come back. So we don’t know whether they are going to continue unabated.”
“So we want the security personnel to be detailed to patrol the Pra River so the people will leave the place for the river to rejuvenate itself,” Mr. Barnie added.
The water company had called in police to address the situation but to no avail.
Mr. Barnie suggested that “maybe the police would not be able to swim to where they [illegal miners] were.”
Amewu on police response
Commenting on the development, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu, wondered why the police service is unable to arrest the illegal miners.
“If the police have not been able to effect arrests then what are they for? I think they have a duty to deliver to their country and they have been paid for that.
Mr. Amewu said the these development “was a signal that we have a lot more to do.”
“It’s is a long haul. It is a process and we must continue and as much as we continue to judge them [illegal miners], we are also looking at alternatives to make sure that we re-engage them.”
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By: Eugenia Tenkorang/citifmonline.com/Ghana