Eight persons have been busted for allegedly engaging in illegal mining activities, popularly called galamsey, within the banks of the Black Volta near the Bui Dam in the Brong-Ahafo Region.
The joint operation, which was carried out at Dokakyina on Monday by the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Command and the Third Infantry Battalion (3BN), with support from the National Security, became necessary following the dangers the activities of the illegal miners were posing to the Bui Dam.
The suspects are Kasim Yakubu, an auto-mechanic from Techiman, Awudu Abubakari, Francis Yaw, Maxwell Kwakye, Abu Musah, Adamu Karim, Bright Kwakye and Kwame Maxwell, all unemployed from Acherensua in the Asutifi South District.
The security personnel, acting on a tip-off, impounded a Kia Truck with registration number AW 3513-11, loaded with three drums of petrol, six drums of diesel, four water pumping machines, two Chamsang machines, two jerry cans of engine oil, seven shovels, 40 hammers, a chainsaw machine, and water hoses among many others.
Briefing DAILY GUIDE yesterday, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Commander, DCOP Maxwell Sakipasgo Atingane, said the Bui Dam is a national asset and that the security will not sit down for a few people to destroy it.
DCOP Atingane said a team of police and military personnel had pitched camp at Dokakyina to clamp down on the activities of the galamsey operators around the Bui Dam, adding that their activities are destroying the river and threatening the lifespan of the dam.
According to him, since the operation began in July this year, four separate arrests have been made on various occasions, where a number of items including vehicles belonging to the culprits had been impounded.
He assured the public that the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), with support from the National Security Council, will ensure that all the illegal miners are flashed out from the dam area to protect it for posterity.
Meanwhile the suspects, who have since admitted that they engaged in illegal mining in the dam area, were on Thursday processed for court and remanded into lawful custody to assist the police in their investigations.
FROM Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako, Sunyani
Email: [email protected]
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