Chinese Illegal Miners arrested in the Western Region
7 Chinese illegal miners have been arrested by the Government’s Environmental Sustainability Taskforce in the early hours of today. Also, 10 excavators have been seized during the Taabosere forest raid in the Western Region.
The renewed onslaught seeks to save the country’s natural resources affected by illegal mining activities.
The team of armed military and police personnel stormed the Taabosere forest enclave at dawn and caught these Chinese miners by surprise.
They had invaded the forest destroying natural resources spanning about ten football fields, and these irresponsible mining practices have left the Oda River which runs through the forest milky mud with no sign of life.
The thick forest cover has also been depleted with scenes of tree species cut and buried in mud.
As the taskforce moved through the dangerous routes, the team learned many of the miners destroying the forest have no permits.
One of them is Alhaji Issah Odartey who had a physical confrontation with the taskforce.
He claims the concession was awarded to him by the Minerals commission but has no documents to prove it.
At some portions of the site, the team found close to 12 excavators as the supervisor, Omar said they were mining with permission from some powerful people.
Later, a man who identified himself as Charles Owusu, a relative of the late Sir John claimed ownership of the illegal mining site begging the team to leave the site.
But the task force removed all the excavators and transported them across the Oda River.
In all, 10 excavators were effectively tracked out of the forest. Seven Chinese miners were arrested and sent to Accra for processing.
