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The North East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has deployed a special taskforce to flush out all illegal miners from the Mamprugu/Moaduri District.

To stop the illegal mining activities from continuing to destroy the environment and resulting in the loss of lives, the REGSEC has also started engaging all illegal miners and residents of the mining communities on the need to form cooperatives to secure permits from the Minerals Commission for community mining.

These measures have been taken following the collapse of a galamsey pit at Nangruma, a mining community in the Mamprugu/Moaduri District, which resulted in the loss of five lives last Monday.

Sanitising mining

The North East Regional Minister, Yidana Zakaria, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the move would not only sanitise the mining industry in the area but also help the region reap the full benefits of mining activities.

“Even before the incident occurred last Monday, REGSEC had engaged the community members on the effects of illegal mining activities and we are fully committed to fighting the menace,” he said.

He indicated that some Chinese had mined at the site and left behind deep uncovered pits and gullies, which were now being mined by the illegal miners.

Mr Zakaria, however, stated that “due to the nature of the pits created, it would need national effort to be able to cover up the area because the assembly didn’t have the resources.”

Incident

Five illegal miners were last Monday trapped to death in an illegal mining pit at Nangruma in the Mamprugu/Moaduri District.

The deceased have been identified as Kwaku Noah, Issahaku Osman, Mohammed Ibrahim, Salifu and Aliu Waliu.

The illegal miners were said to be prospecting for gold when the pit collapsed and killed them. The bodies were subsequently retrieved from the collapsed pit by a rescue team and handed over to their families for burial.