Mr Adu-Gyamfi, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Small Scale Miners Association, has urged the government to take decisive action against officials who are extorting money from licensed miners.
He alleged that certain officials are visiting mining sites belonging to licensed miners to extort money from them.
He appealed to the government to halt the relentless intimidation and extortion that is crippling the businesses of small-scale miners.
He stated that although they support measures aimed at dealing with illegal mining, they will no longer tolerate what is happening in the region.
“Our members are being extorted from and driven to the edge of losing their businesses. We can no longer entertain what is happening. We are in full support of the anti-galamsey fight. But we want the operations to be well-regulated so that it does not get to a boiling point,” he said.
Mr Adu-Gyamfi stated that the operations are sometimes led by the police, soldiers, National Security, and persons claiming to be part of the officers of MMDCEs.
He noted that the current operations against galamsey have descended into a chaotic free-for-all, where the only goal is to line the pockets of corrupt officials, who take money from members for no reason.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
