Two galamsey miners have died after a mining pit caved in at Kyeremasu in the Bono Region.
The two whose identities are unknown were in the company of several other illegal miners at the time of the incident.
Dormaa Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Anthony Appiah, said the other illegal miners absconded.
“We had information that two boys went on illegal mining on some old galamsey site. They went there and unfortunately, some of the walls caved on them and they died in the course of it. It happened at Kyeremasu but I think they were with a team of people who actually absconded”, he told Citi FM.
“The bodies were seen at the site. There was not any mark on them to show that they were assaulted or anything of that sort,” he added.
The police, however, added that the bodies of the deceased had been conveyed to the Dormaa Presby Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy.
Activities of illegal miners have been in the media yet again with many questioning the success of the government’s fight against galamsey.
But the government has claims it has made 85 per cent success in the fight against illegal mining.
We’ve achieved 85% success rate in galamsey fight – Lands Minister
The government in 2017 placed a ban on small scale mining as a means to sanitize the sector after the activities of miners in some parts of the country were seen to have destroyed numerous water bodies whiles destroying vast lands, especially in forest reserves.
The two-year ban was, however, lifted on December 17, 2018. The minister for environment, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng during a ceremony to announce the unveiling of the ban said only registered and validated small scale miners would be allowed to mine in their designated concessions.
But this has been called into question again after some people were spotted busily engaging in illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, during an unannounced visit by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Kweku Asomah Cheremeh.
Hundreds of excavators belonging to illegal miners were seized and sent to various district assemblies for investigations.
On Monday, January 27, 2020, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Prof. Frimpong Boateng revealed that the hundreds of excavators seized from illegal miners cannot be found.
Several seized ‘galamsey’ excavators missing – Minister reveals
This revelation by the Minister triggered a response from the media coalition against galamsey which expressed its disappointment in the Minister.
Convener of the coalition, Ken Ashigbey charged the minister to initiate investigations into the mission heavy-duty equipment and prosecute persons found culpable.
Excavators are not mobile phones, find them – Ashigbe tells Minister