Ghana arrests 47 illegal Chinese, Indian miners

Ghana’s Presidential Task Force on
Illegal Mining has arrested some 47 illegal
miners at Dunkwa-on-Offin in the country’s
central region, an official has said. Mr Samuel Sarpong, the Central Regional
Minister and leader of the team was quoted by
Ghana’s newspaper, the Ghanaian Times as
saying this when he spoke to newsmen on
Wednesday in Accra. He said that those arrested included Chinese
and Indian nationals following a search by the
task force around the country. “The task force also destroyed 13 locally made
machines belonging to some of the miners at
two different locations. “At Kyekyewere, some of the illegal miners
took to their heels and crossed the Offin river
upon seeing the team,’’ he said. Sarpong said that the mandate of the task
force was to stamp out the activities of illegal
miners across the country. He said that the activities of illegal miners had
destroyed water bodies in the country including
the Pra and Offin Rivers. “The situation is so severe that efforts must
be made to protect the land and water bodies
from total destruction,’’ he said. The newspaper also quoted Ransford Ninson,
the Central Regional Police Commander, as
saying that the police was ready to support the
task force in carrying out its mandate. He said that the exercise would be sustained in
to protect all water bodies and land in the
mining regions of the country. (NAN)