We will protect the water bodies and fight illegal miners - Small Scale Miners vow

Small Scale Miners have promised to battle illegal miners, popularly known as (galamsey) destroying major bodies across the country with the help of its task force.

The group expressed worry about the mass pollution of the rivers in most towns and the destruction of reserved forests by these illegal operators.

“It's unfortunate how everyone blame Small Scale Miners for polluting our rivers but we are not responsible for that. We get approval from the rightful authorities before we operate and we are required to do our mining a far distance from any river area.”

“These pollutions are caused by some illegal miners who only mine on the water but we will make sure this will stop. We have a task force now to deal with the situation with the help of the government.” The leader of the group said after a visit to many galamsey sites by a task force of the Small Scale Miners at Mankranso and its environs.

Their action follows a national call to ban small-scale miners from operating with claims that they pollute major water bodies.

But the authorized miners said, “Some foreigners are responsible for destroying the water bodies, not Small Scale Miners”.