Asante Akyem Central: One Killed As Illegal Miners Clash With Soldiers

One person has been pronounced dead after a confrontation between military officers and illegal miners erupted at Petransa in the Asante Akyem Central Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The officers were deployed to stop the illegal miners from trespassing on a concession belonging to the Owere Mines, a mining company in the area.

In 2017, two illegal miners died after a mining pit collapsed on about 14 miners in that same area.

According to police officials, details of the recent incident are scanty.

But Citi News understands that there was military reinforcement to avert further disturbances.

Mining activities form an integral part in the economic development of any country endowed with mineral resources.

This is due to the revenue generated from it, the employment opportunities it creates for the citizens and the foreign exchange.

However, illegal mining activities also known as ‘galamsey’ have become rampant in most of these communities causing them to suffer from pollution, land degradation, deforestation, high cost of living, poverty and lack of basic needs.

Whereas many attribute this to the activities of legitimate companies, others point fingers to illegal miners (galamsey operators).

War against illegal mining

Despite the war against the practice, there is still widespread rumors that illegal small scale mining is still ongoing with possible support from local authorities.

Incidents of the collapse of mining pits are however quite rare although there are reports that such incidents especially those involving foreign illegal small-scale miners are hardly made public because they have no close relations to take up the matter.

—citinewsroom