Owere miners threaten demo over galamsey activities

Workers of the Owere Mines at Konogo Odumase in the Ashanti region have threatened to hit the streets if authorities do not put an end to illegal mining activities in the community.

The miners are accusing Municipal Chief Executive of the area and the Divisional Police Commander of doing little to curb 'galamsey' on their mining concession.

General Secretary of Ghana mines workers’ union, Owere branch, Francis Owusu told Starrfmonline.com several meetings with the Municipal Assembly and the Divisional Police Command have not yielded any results.

“They are just there watching these galamsayers continue to encroach our concession, destroying lands and water bodies. These illegal miners are doing serious underground mining on our sites and if no action is taken as soon as possible, the whole town will wake up one day to a collapsed community, because the pillars which support the town is what these galamsayers are tempering with” he bemoaned.

He said “the municipal assembly brought letters that they want to do dredging of the Owere river in front of our mines but because of floods from perennial rains, they ended up doing alluvial mining; polluting the river and other water bodies in the municipality.

“As if that’s not enough, you wake up and these illegal miners are holding machetes and even guns in their hands and we cannot sit down and watch unconcern".

The miners have submitted a petition to register their displeasure about the problem. Police officers were subsequently deployed to stop the illegal miners but the activity is yet to cease.

“The executives have given them one week and expecting that by the close of this week, if we don’t hear anything from them, we will hit the street to register our displeasure to the whole nation,” Owusu fumed.