Residents of Konongo in the Asante Akim Central Municipality have expressed worry over what they believe will be a return of illegal miners to a site close to the Low-Cost community in the town.
They say operators fled the site upon hearing about the government’s order for the military to clamp down on their activities. According to residents, a lot of the miners fled together with their excavators at top speed upon hearing the military was on its way to their sites; something they mentioned to do in a report by journalist Erastus Asare Donkor when he visited the site earlier in August this year.
Source: Satellites.Pro @ https://satellites.pro/Konongo_map.Ghana#6.625324,-1.207702,19
Residents in the community and its environs, decrying the effects Galamsey is having on them said their homes now get flooded anytime it rains. Prior to the beginning of Galamsey activities, the wetlands which lie in a valley along the Accra-Kumasi Highway was used for rice farming with residential developments around them.
Following a visit to the site, the Skorched Earth team observed that mining was taking place few meters away from important amenities like schools, homes and churches. Deep pits, filled to the brim with muddied waters are left open, posing a risk to residents and children.
“These days, playing keeps getting the children closer and closer to the site. So parents, fearing their wards could drown have to keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t get close”, a resident shared.
In the Erastus Asare Donkor report referred to earlier, owner of the site, one Kwasi Asamoah claimed the concession was part of government’s Community Mining Scheme and was commissioned by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor; something he has denied. In addition to this, the mining operation does not comply with Regulation 9(L) of Minerals and Mining (Health, Safety and Technical Regulations, 2012) (L.I. 2182) which directs miners to fill in, fence or close surface openings which are a hazard to people or animals.
The water on portions of the land have also become stagnant, breeding mosquitoes and other organisms that can be harmful to the health of residents. Residents also explain that to make way for their mining activities, a stream that passed through the area was diverted and has thus cut the flow, worsening the flooding situation.
The stream affected is the Amerfa Stream, part of the Owere River, the major water body that serves the municipality with water. A study conducted by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2019 revealed a heavy pollution of water in the Konongo and its environs as a result of Galamsey activities. The investigations carried out in the up, mid and down streams of the river revealed that turbidity levels at all sites (upstream, midstream and downstream) ranged between 55.5± 8.602 – 62.5± 6.390 NTU; levels high and above the WHO limit of 5NTU, making them unsafe for consumption.
One resident, lamenting their ordeal to the team said “As for us, now we are convinced we aren’t part of Ghanaians. If it rains, we cannot go anywhere. What will you do if the chiefs who are custodians of the land give them out for such activities”.
Operations in the valley have also cut residents off an access route that was shorter compared to the ones they have to rely on currently. As a result, their turnaround time has also increased.
An affected resident, Gafalu Abdulai, talking about the situation said “When going home, I could use the route without walking through water. But now, sand deposited there as a result of the galamsey activities has trapped water along that side. Due to this I’d have to take off my footwear and wade through the water to cross. The water could come up to the knee level”.
The activities of the miners have also affected portions of the road that form part of the Accra-Kumasi highway. Gullies are visibly seen at the edge of the road that sits above the valley where the mining activities take place.
Sitting at the edge (almost hanging) of the stretch is the Christ Church of Light with the current situation posing a possible threat to congregants and road users.
Some 100 meters away from the mining site lies one of the private basic schools in Konongo, Elite Comprehensive School. Students here have seen operations go on at the site in the past and can visibly see sand and pits in full glare.
Explaining the situation, director of the school, Mr. Gyekye Richardson said flooding in the community is also occasioned by the absence of a drainage in the area.
“We are missing this, every development demands social amenities but here, they don’t provide them. One social amenity we need here is a drainage system. This water body here is called Amerfa; upstream, about 3 kilometers from here is newly developed…a lot of the residents here build walls around their homes and cast their compounds with concrete. So with this area being a flood plain, the waters run off because there is no perculation. So just imagine; a place where rain water runs off for almost 3 kilometers without proper drainage” the Geography and Sustainability expert explained, adding the area could flood up after some 30 minutes when it rains.
He called on authorities to go beyond collecting levies and commit to the provision of social amenities.
Regarding the Galamsey activities, he said perceptions people have formed about their operations was affecting the school. According to him, people misrepresent the situation, making parents and members of the community think it is happening in the school.
“I wouldn’t say it affects us but the perception. Someone can meet you and say we have heard they are doing Galamsey in your school because the child sees the machines working, and debris piled up from here [the school compound]” he lamented.
He adds that students also tell their parents Galamsey is happening in the school and parents perceive it’s happening in the school although that is not the case.
