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The Executive Director of the Forest Services Division, Hugh C. Brown, says the Forestry Commission is not adequately resourced to fight illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’ in the country.
This, he explained, is because of the presence of armed groups on the grounds who are prepared to engage the Forestry Commission’s task forces in gun battles.
Speaking at the JoyNews’ national dialogue on illegal mining on Monday, December 4, he said the Commission is also not trained as soldiers to tackle the issue, adding that they are only trained to conserve and protect the environment.
“The Commission is not adequately positioned to fight the challenge [galamsey],” he said.
He cited the recent shooting incident at Mankranso in the Ashanti region which led to the death of two persons to buttress his assertion.
“These are officers who had gone to enforce law and order. They saw an excavator and they were demobilising it and then out of the bush, they were ambushed with knives and guns and they had to defend themselves,” he narrated.
According to him, the Commission in 2022 had the support of the military to engage the armed thugs on the grounds, however, they were withdrawn in November the same year.
Mr Brown said due to the absence of the military and the lack of resources to fight the canker, it is difficult to deploy the Commission’s team in harm’s way.
Mr Brown said although they are not adequately resourced, they have been able to demobilise 83 excavators in forest reserves, and arrested 198 persons with 24 being convicted.
For this reason, he called on the government to support the Forestry Commission to enable them to do more in the fight against illegal mining.
“We need the support of the military that our taxpayers money is funding,” he said
Commenting on the ‘Poisoned for Gold’ documentary, he described the illegal mining menace as an ‘ecological disaster’, adding that the menace is not something we should countenance as a country.
“We should all do our very best to ensure that this becomes a thing of the past,” he entreated.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Martin Kwaku Ayisi has said that illegal mining is now prevalent in 13 regions in the country.
