Six persons who were involved in illegal small scale mining at Ayiem, a farming community in the Mpohor District of the western region, have been arrested by police in the district.

The six were mining in River Butre and the Subri River.

An anti-galamsey task-force led by the Mpohor District Chief Executive, Ignatius Asaa Mensah, in collaboration with the Mpohor District Police Command on Monday carried out the raid.

The six, Clement Fosu 27, Paul Sissie 21, Isaac Larbi 29, Emmanuel Godzo 29, Rafael Lewu 27 and Subina Kwesi 18, were spotted using “Chanfang” machine on the two rivers in the late hours of Monday.

Confirming the arrest to Citi News, the DCE, Ignatius Asaa Mensah, explained that “the anti-galamsey task-force reported to me that they have spotted a group of young men mining in the Subri River. We mobilized ourselves and went to their area of operations. The police were able to arrest all of them and are currently at the Mpohor Police Command. They are taking their statements after which they will be arraigned tomorrow [Wednesday] before a magistrate at the Takoradi Circuit Court.”

Government has waged a serious war on the activity which is destroying the environment, farmlands and water bodies. Since the campaign led by media houses such as Citi FM commenced, the activity has stopped in many areas, as some of the polluted rivers are said to be regaining their natural status.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as part of drastic measures to arrest the situation has halted the issuance of small scale mining licenses for six months until the sector is sanitized.