Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu & Kofi Yeboah, Busua
LOCAL and central government authorities have failed to act, more than a year after a large number of Chinese citizens were reported to have descended on the River Ankobra and other water bodies to undertake small-scale mining.
Now the mining activities of the Chinese are said to be heavily polluting the River Ankobra and putting in danger the health of thousands of people who depend on the river for their drinking water.
From the northeast of Wiawso, the River Ankobra, which flows about 120 miles (190 km) southwards into the Gulf of Guinea, has had a large portion of its course blocked and in some cases diverted by the illegal miners for the purposes of mining and washing the excavated soil, as well as other operations.
Although the Minerals and Mining Act forbids foreigners from engaging in small-scale mining in the country, the Chinese, equipped with dredging equipment and other sophisticated machinery, are said to be subduing everything, including infrastructure and political authority, to reach the precious mineral.
Information reaching the Daily Graphic speaks of dire consequences ahead as the Chinese extend their illegal operations to the foundations of a bridge over the River Ankobra at Dikoto in the Wassa Amenfi East District of the Western Region, thereby exposing the bridge to imminent collapse.
The bridge links Dikoto with the Dikoto Junction, Wassa Kumase, Asiamkrom, Anyinabrem, Gyedua and other communities in the district which are major food baskets of the country.
The Presiding Member of the Wassa Amenfi District Assembly, Mr Anthony Kwame Darko, disclosed this at a consultative seminar for key actors in the mining industry organised by the National Peace Council at Busua in the Western Region at the weekend.
The seminar, which was sponsored by the UNDP, was a follow-up to several positive engagements initiated by the NPC over the years with the view to fostering peaceful co-existence between mining companies and their host communities.
Participants at the seminar, including the Western Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Alhaji Hamidu; the Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Tarkwa Nsuaem municipality, Mr Michael Sandow Ali, and the Assembly Member of the Mpohor Wassa East District Assembly, Mr Anthony Bissiw, confirmed having received reports of the involvement of Chinese and other foreigners in small-scale mining activities in the Wassa area, particularly in the River Ankobra.
Mr Darko said the issue was reported to the Wassa Amenfi District Security Committee (DISEC) about a year ago and committee, in turn, reported the matter to the Western Regional Security Council (REGSEC), which also relayed the information to the national level, but no action had been taken.
The inaction of local and central government authorities, as well as the security agencies, to deal with the situation is fuelling speculations that they have been compromised by the illegal Chinese miners whose authority, it is believed, rests on the shoulders of some powerful and influential local collaborators.
The Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) provides in Section 83(a), “A licence for small-scale mining operation shall not be granted to a person unless that person is a citizen of Ghana.”
Section 93 of the act further provides, “A person licensed under Section 82 may win, mine and produce minerals by an effective and efficient method and shall observe good mining practices, health and safety rules and pay due regard to the protection of the environment during mining operations.”
Offenders of the act are dealt with variously, such as under Section 106 (I), which provides, “A person who contravenes a provision of this act or regulations made under this act commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not more than the cedi equivalent of $5,000 and in the case of a continuing offence after first conviction, a penalty of the cedi equivalent of $500 for each day the offence is continued.”
Following the recent mine disaster in Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Central Region which claimed the lives of scores of ‘galamsey’ operators, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, launched a nation-wide security operation to flush out illegal miners.
According to Mr Darko, the illegal Chinese miners hid behind some Ghanaians who owned mining concessions to pollute the river and plundered the environment in their search for gold.
After acquiring the concession for small-scale mining, Ghanaian owners allegedly engage the Chinese, who supply sophisticated machinery for the mining but they (the Chinese) subsequently assume a front-line role, contrary to the law.
Apart from breaching the law, Mr Darko alleged that the Chinese used wild dogs to chase the indigenes out of their farmlands in order to gain unfettered access to the land for mining.
DCOP Hamidu indicated that officials of the EPA once reported the issue to the Western Regional Minister, who asked the EPA officials to bring the Chinese to him, but they did not show up again.
Responding to concerns as to why the police, for instance, had not acted swiftly to arrest the illegal Chinese miners, he said the police would require the collaboration of the people to combat the situation.
For his part, Mr Ali said although he had not personally witnessed the operations of the Chinese, he had received information to that effect and promised to verify the allegations made.
The Executive Director of WACAM, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that champions the cause of communities affected by mining, Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, alleged that some leaders of the small-scale miners association made huge financial gains by offering concessions to the Chinese to mine.
He said gradually Ghana was degenerating into the situation in the Congo where foreigners, armed to the teeth, were engaged in small-scale mining activities and stressed the need for urgent action to address the situation.
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