Eastern Region inaugurates “galamsey” task force
Ms Helen Adjoa Ntoso, the Eastern Regional Minister, has inaugurated the regional Task Force on illegal mining and lumbering which are fast deteriorating the natural environment of the region.
The Task Force consists of a total of 15 personalities comprising the Regional Minister and her Deputy, Ms Mavis Ama Frimpong, Mr Samuel A. Bawa, the Coordinating Director and representatives of 12 core departments.
The 12 departments include the Military, the Ghana Police Service, the Regional Security, the Immigration Service, the Fire Service and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
The rest are the Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS), the Regional Forestry Commission, Mineral Service Commission, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Prisons Service and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO).
Inaugurating the Task Force, Ms Ntoso said they were first of all, going to reclaim all the pits dug by the illegal miners after which volunteers would be engaged in tree planting on all the reclaimed lands.
The Regional Minister said the Task Force and her outfit would encourage farmers in the various galamsey prone communities to go into farming in the reclaimed areas to help protect and bring back the fertility of the land.
“Notwithstanding the challenges we are facing, we hope that in the next few months before the end of this year, Eastern Region will be free from galamsey operations,” she said.
Ms Ntoso said her outfit would make available copies of the list of all legal mining firms in the region to the respective Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) to ensure that their activities are carefully monitored.
She said her office was also liaising with the Police to round up all foreigners involved in the galamsey business in the region.
Mr J.W.O Agyekum, the Regional Security Coordinator and Chairman of the task Force, pledged the teams commitment to halt the spread of illegal mining in the area saying “it is not going to be a nine-day wonder.”
Source: GNA