Two illegal miners were ordered to remove mud from sections of the tarred Akrofufu to Twapease road in the Atiwa West District of the Eastern Region.
These miners were in the process of transporting materials via a truck vehicle from their mining site near the roadside, which resulted in the scattering of mud onto the tarred road.
The incident occurred when the Minister, also serving as the Member of Parliament for the region, was accompanied by several constituency executives of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) on their way back from a funeral in Twapease over the weekend.
Mr Amoako Atta, observing the damage inflicted on the road by the illegal miners and the destruction caused to the road’s shoulders, expressed his frustration and instructed his police guard to arrest the illegal miners.
Two individuals were apprehended, although others managed to escape.
They were then compelled to clean off the mud from approximately one kilometer of the road, as a consequence of their actions.
“My party executives and I were from a funeral, and we came to meet this low bed trailer with galamsey excavator. Look at this distance, more than a kilometer of road have been destroyed -so muddy,” the Minister said.
“The entire stretch of the tarred road has been muddied so no car could cross. All the vehicles have parked at both. They have destroyed the shoulders of the road so I stopped and ordered my bodyguard to arrest them,” he mentioned
He added that the illegal miners arrested have been handed over to the police.
“Their galamsey activities are destroying the road constructed with huge amount of the taxpayer’s monies. Look at the destruction. I have handed them over to the police for the law to take its cause. The police in their own wisdom will carry their own investigation,” he added.
Mr Amoako Atta declared what he calls ‘negative tolerance’ to illegal mining in the area warning that henceforth, illegal miners will be subdued in the district.
“I am the Member of Parliament for this constituency, and I am going to work with my District Chief Executive who is the DISEC to support the position of government. The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, has pu presidency on the line to fight galamsey to protect the environment for posterity. We have to protect our water bodies and our land,” he added.
