Environmental journalist with the Multimedia Group, Erastus Asare Donkor, has raised alarm over ongoing illegal mining activities—popularly known as galamsey—occurring in close proximity to a police barrier at Wassa Japa in the Amenfi East Municipality of the Western Region.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Erastus described the situation as both “disturbing” and “dangerous,” noting that the galamsey operations are taking place right in the middle of the community and openly flout Ghana’s mining laws.
He cited the Minerals and Mining Act, which prohibits mining activities within human settlements and at least 100 metres from public roads. Despite these legal provisions, Erastus claimed that mining was happening on both sides of the road near a permanent police barrier—with officers present daily.
“There is a police barrier where there are personnel working every day. The mining is taking place on both sides of the road while the barrier is there permanently, but no action has been taken,” he lamented.
He questioned the seeming inaction of the police and other local authorities, including the District Chief Executive and traditional leaders, stressing that their silence or lack of intervention was deeply troubling.
“Is it that we don’t care about what is happening? If that is the case, then we should declare that galamsey is no longer an illegality so people can go to the mining sites with excavators. We need to take this menace seriously,” he added.
Erastus also expressed serious concerns about the long-term environmental and health consequences of such unregulated mining activities, warning that the damage could soon become irreversible.
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