A Swiss national Rolf Dachler, who decided to take advantage of the country's peaceful atmosphere to invest in Ghana is now cursing his stars for ever taking that decision. Dachler is in partnership with other Ghanaian entrepreneurs engaged in surface mining at Mpatoum in the Ashanti Region.
They have been operating for about a year and half after acquiring the concession and fulfiling other legal requirements such as licence to operate.
According to the Swiss national, he and his partners made an initial capital investment of 1.35 million dollars into the company known as AMDB Mining. On the spot investigations carried out by The Independent at the Mpatoum township revealed that AMDB has employed between 40 to 45 people from the Mpatuom Township and other surrounding villages.
Dachler told The Independent that his problems started when some illegal miners popularly known as "galamsey boys" started manoeuvring around the premises of his company with the aim mining in the area without authorization.
He said, the action of the Galamsey boys prompted management of AMDB Mining to petition the Regional Army Commander for some military surveillance on their company. "We wanted the military men to help halt the activities of the galamsey boys, but was directed to see the Regional Police command instead", Dachler disclosed.
This he said was done accordingly, and was therefore surprised that the police kept dragging dragging their feet with the usual "go and come" attitude and other bureaucratic behaviours.
Dachler, further told The Independent that, this went on for a month until the galamsey guys numbering about one thousand attacked the company and vandalised valuable properties estimated at one billion cedis.
A frustrated Dachler said he had expected the police to act quick rather than waiting till the harm had been caused. He said that the lives of his employees are at stake since the no- mercy boys have threatened even to deal with the police themselves.
In related development, nine persons have been arrested by the police in connection with the bestial act of the galamsey operators. At a court hearing the circuit tribunal has refuse 7 of them bail and are to help the police arrest other culprits who are at large.
