‘Stiffen measures to fight illegal miners’

The Forest Service Division (FSD) has asked government to stiffen measures to fight the activities of illegal miners, as operators have adopted a new approach to degrade forests reserves and other lands.

“Illegal mining is causing serious destruction to our environment, water-bodies and forests. We appeal to government to put in place measures to avoid further losses,” Mr. Isaac Noble Eshun, the Ashanti Regional Assistant Manager of FSD said.

He observed that the nationwide crusade against illegal mining is far from over, as illegal miners in the Ashanti Region have adopted new style of degrading the forests reserves.

Mr. Eshun explained that the top-soil of the forest is taken away by these illegal miners with an excavator and transported to a different site to extract the gold and other minerals: this is creating deep pits.

The clearing of the top soil of the forest and pits pose great danger to forest supervisors because they could fall into the pits -- Tepa and Bekwai were cited as prime examples.

This development is stifling the operations for safeguarding the future of forests, he said.

Mr. Eshun indicated that the national security taskforce instituted by President John Mahama is doing a great work, saying: “The illegal miners are causing blistering havoc with this new extraction approach, and that the security agencies need to step in and keep these illegal miners at bay.

“The traditional rulers and politicians have made the situation worse, as they encourage people to encroach on forest lands belonging to the state by pleading for offenders when they are arrested.”