Mr Joseph Nelson, the Western Regional Minister, has called on the Minerals Commission to establish a permanent office in the Nzema East enclave to help strengthen their oversight of mining activities in the area.
He said, that was essential to enhance the Commission’s regulatory oversight and ensure mining activities were properly monitored, to combat illegal mining in the Nzema area.
He made the call after the Western Regional Anti-Galamsey Task Force conducted a raid on illegal mining sites along the Ankobra River in the Nzema East Municipality.
As part of the operation which was conducted on the eve of Christmas Day, the team led by Brigadier General Musah Whajah (Rtd), the Western Regional National Security Liaison Officer, arrested two Chinese nationals, and demobilised five excavators.
Mr Nelson lamented that: “The problem to some extent is structural because the Minerals Commission does not have an office anywhere from Wassa East all the way to Jomoro, so I wonder how they are able to police even those companies that they have given licence to Mine.
“As the security does its work, the regulator must also be up and doing, so I suggest that the Minerals Commission should open an office here in the Nzema East,” he said.
Mr Nelson noted that the Nzema East area had become a hotspot for illegal mining activities in recent times, with large tracts of farmland along the Ankobra River left heavily devastated.
He, thus, called on the Commission to establish an office within that enclave to help strengthen their presence to ensure compliance with the mining laws of the country.
Brig. Gen. Whajah (Rtd) issued a warning to illegal miners operating in the districts within Wassa Amenfi area, stating that the taskforce’s next operation would target them.
