The Staff and Students of the Ghana Armed Forces Staff College has paid an operational visit to the Central Regional Coordinating Council.

Welcoming the officers and staff of the College, the Chief Director of the Central Regional Coordinating Council, Mr. Kingsley Agyei-Boahene who sat in for the Central Regional Minister, Hon. Mrs. Justina Marigold Assan, noted that illegal mining known as “galamsey” has had a favorable effect on communities and the country.
Giving a brief profile of the Region, Mr. Agyei-Boahene said, the vision of the administration was to foster unity of purpose among the people by involving all stakeholders to achieve accelerated development.

Moreover, Mr. Agyei-Boahene used the medium to tell the beacon of rich traditional culture in the Region and also the first area of the Country to have established contact with the Western World in the 15th Century.

“The most dominant occupations of the people in the Region is farming and fishing”, he added.

In accordance to this, Mr. Agyei-Boahene continued by telling participants the tourists attraction sites in the Region which comprises the Kakum National Park, Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle, the historical cultural festivals and many more.
The Chief Director informed them that Regional Minister chairs a 13 member Security Council whose membership is made up of the Heads of the Security Agencies in the Region and the Attorney General’s Representative in the Region.

He noted that Council met regularly (once every month) and where the need arose to review/evaluated the Security Situation in the Region.

He continued to state the major challenges faced by the Region, which are the activities of illegal miners popularly known as “galamseyers” whose nefarious activities have resulted in the destruction of farmlands, forests and pollution of water bodies in the Region.

According to the Mr. Clemence Adzormahe of the Minerals commission, he indicated that in gaining permit requirements, one had to get mining license issued by Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Environmental permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency based on EPA(Act 703, section 18) and also operating permit issued by the ID of Minerals Commission (Act 703 section 102).

He emphasized that any activity by individuals, groups or companies without the three key requirements is an illegal operation “galamsey” and is therefore a crime.

“The impact of illegal mining has caused unsafe and poor working conditions in most of the mining areas like Assign North District, Upper Denkyira East Municipal and Upper Denkyira West District and its endeavors”, he observed.

Mr. Adzormahe announced the Mineral commission was embarking on various operations of the Security services employed to curb illegal mining across the country at large.