The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker has inaugurated the Kenyasi Community Mining Scheme in the Asutifi North District in the Ahafo Region and indicated that the government will continue to ensure that those arrested for illegal mining are prosecuted to deter people from engaging in it.
He said the government has purchased boats to be used to patrol the major rivers that are a threat to survival and promised that more mining schemes would continue to be inaugurated to provide employment for unemployed youth.
The Omanhene of Kenyasi Number One in the Ahafo Region, Nana Osei Kofi Abiri, speaking at the ceremony warned that he will not hesitate to destool any chief within his jurisdiction found to be involved in illegal mining, otherwise known as galamsey. He stressed that any Chief found to engage in any form of illegal mining that has the potential of destroying water bodies and farmlands will be taken through the process and subsequently destooled.
The inauguration of Community Mining Schemes across gold mining areas in Ghana is a strategy initiated by the government to address the menace of illegal mining in Ghana, which has been a major source of destruction to the river bodies and degradation of lands for commercial and subsistence agriculture. The scheme is aimed at providing employment for the youth and help protect the water bodies that serve as sources of drinking water.
The Ahafo Regional Minister, George Boakye, appealed to the management of the mining scheme to strictly comply with regulations to protect the environment.
