The move by the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene to tackle the menace of illegal mining head-on has received a major boast following the pledge by the Small Scale Miners Association in the region to support the intiative in order to safeguard water bodies and forest reserves.
The pledge comes a day after the mninster issued a two week ultimatum to all illegal miners (galamseyers) in forest reserves and water bodies to cease their activities.
Dr Amoakohene during his maiden press conference in Kumasi warned that security forces in the region will take further action if the illegal miners fail to comply with the directive.
The Ashanti Regional Organiser for the Smale Scale Miners Association, Mr. Kwaku Duah, expressed the Association’s readiness to support the Minister, stating that they will do everything to help.
Mr Duah in an interview urged the Minister to differentiate between legal and illegal miners, appealing to him to protect responsible miners and crack down on illegal ones to save jobs.
This distinction he said is crucial to ensure that legitimate miners are not unfairly affected by the crackdown on illegal mining.
