The two Russians and their two Ukrainian counterparts who were arrested in the Ashanti Region for engaging in illegal small scale mining, also known as Galamsey, have been granted bail by an Accra Circuit Court.
According to the judge, he was inclined to grant them bail after looking at the “substance” of the application.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pojXOnrLt7rhxd6mq6YVdfUOdVnL7vZ3″]The four persons were granted bail to the tune of two hundred thousand each with one surety who must be a Ghanaian.
The four, who are managers of Geo Professional Services, were said to have mined about 500 acres of land instead of 75 acres originally given them by the Lands Commission at Tontokrom in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region.
Their arrest was ordered by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, during his tour of mining sites in the Ashanti region.
The four; Farid Isaev, Vadim Potokin, Serhii Chepurnly and Genadly Rubec, have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and undertaking small-scale mining without a licence, contrary to Section 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
The mining company was allegedly issued with the “stop work order” by the Inspection Directorate of the Minerals Commission on May 18, but they disregarded the directive and continued mining.
Although they had a small scale mining license, the Lands Minister, in an exchange of words with the foreign miners, retorted that “what you are doing here has nothing to do with the small scale. You are destroying the environment and polluting the water bodies.”
“Just behind your door, you saw the pollution of the water bodies and this is clearly a concession meant for small scale mining. You are engaged in this as foreigners, but I don’t think this will happen in your country,” Mr. Amewu said.
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By: Fred Djabanor/citifmonline.com/Ghana