A total of 999 illegal miners have so far been arrested by the joint military/police taskforce (Operation Vanguard) that has been assigned the job of tackling illegal mining (galamsey) to save the environment.

Squadron Leader Robison Omane-Agyei, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the taskforce, said 170 excavators had also been seized and 196 immobilized at illegal mining sites over the six months of its operation.

Additionally, 82 small arms with 1,370 cartridges had been captured and 3,002 chang-fa machines (floating platforms) destroyed.

He announced this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at the taskforce’s Forward Operation Base in the gold mining town of Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.

Squadron Leader Omane-Agyei claimed a lot of progress was being made and pledged to sustain the momentum.

They were determined to do everything to safeguard the environment – protect the forests and rivers, including Bia, Ankobra, Pra, Offin and Birim. The polluted Bia River flows from Ghana to Cote d’Ivoire through illegal mining areas.

In March last year, an Ivorian newspaper carried a news item highlighting the negative impact galamsey was having on water supply in the neighboring country.



Squadron Leader Omane-Agyei said the same could, however, not be said today and that things had radically changed for the better.

He called on the people to strongly support the taskforce by supplying them with useful information for the arrest of recalcitrant illegal miners, who defy the ban on illegal activities.

He added that it is in everybody’s interest that the environment is sustainably managed.