Over 80, Acres Of Cocoa And Food Crops Destroyed By Galamsey Kingpin.
Over 80, acres of cocoa and food crops destroyed by Galamsey kingpin as polluted water and land threaten food security.
Communities members are demanding urgent government action to stop illegal miner and restore farmlands at SE, near Ekoso in Atiwa west District.
Illegal mining, or galamsey, is becoming one of the biggest threats to farmers in Atiwa west SE, with thousands of acres of cocoa and food crops destroyed and rivers poisoned beyond use.
According to the Concern farmers of SE, in the Atiwa west District, in the Eastern Region, On 25 July 2926 they reported an illegal miner who had unlawfuly entered and destroyed a Cocoa farms through illegal mining Galamsay activities.
The suspect was arrested by the Abomosu police following the Complain, However, instead of prosecuting the suspect,” the Atiwa west District police Commander has directed the affected victims and lawful owners of the land to produce their lands documents before she will proceed with the prosecution of the illegal miner.
The commander did not ask the suspect to produce any mining license, permit, or legal authorization to conduct mining activities on the land.
The illegal miner has allegedly been mining without a valid license and has caused extensive destruction to the famers propertys.
Affected farmers says”rather the police Commander investigating whether the illegal miner had the legal authority to mine, the police Commander have shifted the burden onto the victims by demanding family lands documents before taking legal action.
The farmers respectfully believe that determining ownership of land is ultimately not a matter for the courts where necessary and should not be used as a basis to delay Criminal proceedings against a person alleged to have angaged in illegal mining, the illegal miners has also been threatening the affected family members with death, Causing fear and insecurity among the landowners.
The farmers petition IGP,, the Eastern Regional minister,, the Minerals Commission,, the Eastern Regional South Regional commander,, “the Atiwa west District Assembly,, EPA,, Nadmo, and police Commander of Atiwa west “on the verge of a generational food crisis” as farmlands disappear and water bodies used for irrigation get polluted by one illegal miner ” called “Williams Addo – Addo.Poisoned Waters, Dead Crops
Illegal miner use *mercury and cyanide* to extract gold. The Seabre, Owurabo, and Birim rivers once vital for farming communities are now heavily contaminated.
Experts say these toxins can linger for over 1,000 years and are already showing up in soil and crops. Farmers at SE, community in Atiwa west, report that uncovered mining pits flood nearby farms during rain, causing black pod disease, early dropping of pods, and stunted cocoa growth.
From Farm to Mining Pit with poor cocoa yields and financial pressure, some Dadematseme, are selling family lands that it not belong to them to miners over there.
In SE, community, the farmers said the was left with a choice: “live on an empty stomach or take up employment at an illegal kingpins mining site”
The Economic Fallout in the area,:
The impact isn’t just rural. Atiwa west District is facing a food import from koforidua Nkurakan, Agro-processing factories also collapse without raw materials like maize, cassava, and cocoa.
Concerned farmers are calling for urgent action against illegal miner,, Williams Addo “Any survival that affects the environment is unsustainable,” said by Nene Kwabra tsu, Chartey, the opinion leader of SE Community.
The reality for many affected farmers,at Se Ekoso, say, galamsey is not just about gold. It’s about losing land, water, food, and the future.
Illegal miners is wiping out farms across ” Se communities and threatening food security.
The Atiwa west District have be coming a Galamsey hard in the Eastern Region.
Affected farmers say polluted rivers like the Owurabo, Seabre,, no longer be used for irrigation, flooded pits from mining also cause crop diseases and stunted growth.
According to Ayertey David Nenebi report,
Galamsey in Se – Ekoso in Atiwa west District, the farmers affected by galamsey, cocoa farms destroyed, by illegal miner impact agriculture in Atiwa west District- “Illegal mining has destroyed over 80, acres of cocoa farms polluting rivers and threatening farmers livelihoods and food security.”
By. David Ayertey Nenebi.
