Foreigners invade galamsey sites, mine on rivers with impunity - Small Scale Miners taskforce

It has emerged that the rampant desecration of the water bodies in most parts of the country as a result of illegal mining (Galamsey) are done by people with foreign extraction.

A visit to many galamsey sites by task force of the Small Scale Miners at Mankranso and other illegal mining sites clearly indicates a rather sorry state as workers seen mining on river Mankran, are all natives of foreign lands.

These miners, with most of them coming from: Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger and Central African Republic, were identified to be the ones who mine in the rivers without recourse to inhabitants of the Mankranso area.

Several scenes of task force invasion on these miners, including some locals, clearly depicted a grand plot by some selfish nation wreckers who have brought these youth from other countries.

The task force believes the move is intended to pin galamsey on the sitting government, thereby, making it unpopular.

At the sites, it was evident how these foreign nationals were briskly mining directly into the rivers, much to the dismay of the indigenous people, who looked on helplessly.

According to some residents of Mankranso especially, these foreigners are armed with sophisticated weapons and cannot express themselves in any of the dialects of Ghana.

"Because they have these massive weapons, they are brutish and show no respect to anyone," a resident said.

Though they are heavily against mining in rivers by these foreigners, they cannot approach them due to the weapons these nationals wield.

Mining equipment such as changfang, water pumping machines, and others were ceased. The changfang was set ablaze by task force of the Small Scale Miners.

According to the task force, such operations will continue in all parts of the country to clamp down on these foreigners who soil water bodies with impunity.

KA

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