An anti-illegal mining operation in the Bosome Freho district of the Ashanti Region has uncovered vast tracts of once-thriving agricultural land, completely decimated by illegal miners, locally known as ‘galamseyers.’
The operation, conducted by COCOBOD in collaboration with National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) at a site named Kakra, established that extensive acres previously covered by cocoa and palm trees among other cash crops, had been irrevocably destroyed. The scale of destruction was shocking to the team.
Upon the arrival, suspected Chinese galamseyers and their Ghanaian accomplices had already fled the scene, evading immediate capture.
However, the operation was not without success. The taskforce successfully retrieved valuable equipment used by the destructors, set ablaze their makeshift shelters, and confiscated a powerful excavator, a critical tool in their destructive mining activities.
The Chinese illegal miners and their Ghanaian accomplices are being pursued from their hideouts.
The Head of Cocoa Protection Unit of COCOBOD, Dr. Michael Kwateng expressed worry about the rate of destruction of cocoa farms by illegal mining activities.
He said COCOBOD is strongly collaborating with NAIMOS to carry out sustained clampdown on illegal miners in cocoa farms.
The pervasive menace of galamsey has long been a major concern across Ghana, threatening not only the nation’s food security and agricultural livelihoods but also polluting vital water bodies, forest reserves and irreversibly degrading the environment.
Prof. Kwarteng called on cocoa growing communities to support this agenda to preserve cocoa sector which serve as a source of livelihood for over 800,000 farmers in Ghana.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
