Give us six months to cover open pits - Small scale miners to government

The Ashanti Regional chapter of the Small Scale Miners Association have asked government to give them a duration of six months to fill the huge pits of degraded lands left behind by 'galamsey' operators.

The government of Ghana with the support of the media and civil society organizations have in the past months campaigned against the menace of illegal mining which has polluted major water bodies like Birem, Pra and others. In the pursuit to curb illegal mining also known as 'galamsey', the government gave a directive to halt all mining activities in the country. A decision which did not go down well with small scale miners.

In an interview with Akwasi Boateng, host of 'Maakye' on Hot93.9fm, the Chairman of the Small scale miners Association in the Ashanti Region Mr. Frank Osei indicated that, they have put it upon themselves to ensure that all pits that were not covered up after mining in the Region will be covered so as to show government that they [small scale miners] support the fight against illegal mining.

The Association yesterday, launched the ''Operation cover two acres'' alongside a taskforce which has been set up to ensure that all small scale miners in the region will cover two acres each of the huge pits that have been dotted on lands as a result of illegal mining.

"We want government to know that we are in support of the fight against galamsey and that is why we have launched our taskforce and the ''Operation cover two acres" campaign where the taskforce we have set up will go round to inspect all open pits that have been left behind by galamsey operators and cover them all. We want to assist government to fight the illegal aspect of mining which is destroying our water bodies and as such, we are using our own resources to ensure that all open pits are closed. We are only asking for six months, and we will ensure that all all pits that have been left open in the Ashanti Region will be closed.

Just yesterday after the launch, some of our members donated five pickup vehicles and some also gave GHS20,000 to the task force for them to start work immediately. So we are pleading with the government to raise the suspension it has placed on mining activities so that we can go back to work." He said.