The Chief and people of Akyem Paawudu located along the Pra river in the Akyemansa District of the Eastern region have called on government to deploy military men in the area as illegal miners are still operating and causing huge damage to the Pra river and their farms. Speaking in an interview with Journalists, the Chief of Akyem Paawudu, Nana Yaw Mensah revealed that, all efforts to drive the miners out of the town have proved futile and it is imperative that, members of the Operation Halt belonging to the Ghana armed forces intervene. The government in April this year launched a nationwide operation to clear illegal miners out of the various water bodies. In all, 200 soldiers were deployed to lakes, rivers and waterways in the country starting from the central and western regions to "remove all persons and logistics involved in mining. But, according to Nana Yaw Mensah, the military taskforce should immediately come to the Paawudu community to flush out the desperate illegal miners who continue to destroy the River Pra, one of the largest river basins in Ghana covering a large expanse of land in the Central, Western, Eastern, and Ashanti regions “The illegal miners have taken us for granted as they have so far resisted all our moves to get them out of this community and our only hope now is a military intervention to get them out and protect river Pra and our farms”, the Chief appealed.
Chinese government demands involvement in galamsey fight
The Chinese government has expressed its disappointment following the involvement of Chinese nationals in illegal small-scale mining (Galamsey). They have suggested that the Chinese government should be involved in the galamsey fight. They have also proposed a travel blacklisting of its nationals engaged in illegal mining. A delegation from the Chinese embassy to the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources led by the ambassador H.E Shi Ting Wang Friday May 21 said the Chinese government is unhappy about activities of some of its nationals in Ghana. The Chinese ambassador H.E Shi Ting Wang said they will support government to deal with its nationals engaged in illegal mining in the country. Furthermore, they said a travel blacklist of perpetrators will be instituted to deter these nationals from moving out of their country. The sector Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor welcomed the Chinese government’s support whiles recounting the dire consequences of galamsey on Ghana’s natural resources.