Farmers and the youth of adjoining communities in the Dwenewoho enclave in the Nwabiagya South District of the Ashanti Region have petitioned the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to intervene and control the wanton destruction of the environment through illegal mining activities in the area.
Reports indicate that farmers and the youth were stranded as all farming activities had come to a standstill as a result of the influx of galamseyers (illegal miners) in the area at the expense of their livelihoods.
Mr. Solomon Antwi, a farmer who lodged a complaint with The Chronicle in Kumasi, said farming activities along the Asikasu and Betinko rivers were on hold, because their farmlands were cut off as excavators had dug out the river beds making it impossible to cross over to their farms.
According to him, the rivers had been polluted and the land area degraded.
Mr. Antwi said several complaints lodged with the appropriate authorities, including the traditional leaders, had not yielded any positive results.
The concerned farmer said the attention of the Chief of Dwenewoho, Nana Twumasi Ampofo, and his Overlord, Nana Sarfo Kantanka Appiah, Chief of Asante Akropong, had been drawn to the alarming situation in the area.
Mr. Antwi said the traditional leadership in the area was not in control, as Chinese nationals daily invaded the area with heavy machinery to engage in illegal mining.
He believed the chiefs were complicit in the illegal mining, hence, their inability to take action and stop the practice.
Another complainant, Kofi Asante, a native of Dwenewoho, said the youth had, on several occasions, kicked against proposals by the stool elders of Dwenewoho to allow mining in the area, with the promise that mined lands would be reclaimed after operations, while creating employment for the youth.
He said miners unknown to the natives visited the area and encroach upon and destroy lands on a daily basis without constraint.
Kofi Owusu of Anyemsemkrom complained that he had been warned not to interfere with the exploration and operations of illegal miners in the area.
The youth have, therefore, appealed to the government and the Asantehene to intervene and stop those behind illegal mining in the Dwenewoho area.
