One hundred personnel from various parts of the country have begun a month of training to protect the country’s river bodies from illegal mining activities.
The 97 males and 3 females were officially handed over to the Eastern Naval Command on Friday by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Mr Samuel Tika, to undergo the training.
Addressing the trainees, Commodore Emmanuel Ayesu Kwafo, the Eastern Naval Commanding Flag Officer, said by the end of the training, the river guards would be equipped with skills in speedboat operation and swimming, among others.
He challenged the trainees to take the drills seriously to effectively implement them when they complete the course.
Commodore Kwafo hinted that the Ghana Navy was setting up a River Command that would work with the river guards to clamp down on galamsey activities on river bodies.
“The Ghana Navy itself is forming a river command so that after this training, we will support you to fight galamsey operations. For the next month, we are going to give you some basic and essential skills that you’ll need out there,
“Swimming is one of the skills we will give you. We will show you what to do when the water is deep and how to deal with mining pits. We will teach how to detect the place and how to give reports and feedback,” he stated.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, the Deputy CEO of the Minerals Commission, Mr Samuel Tika, said the training forms part of the government’s multi-faceted approach to the fight against illegal mining.
“They have been specially selected to be trained to work on the areas of our country affected by galamsey activities. The Minerals Commission is not against mining but we want people to go through the due process. We have a lot of people around who are not following due process and are mining in ways that are polluting our river bodies and posing health threats to the public, he said.
A total of 300 persons are expected to undergo the training in three batches.
The government earlier this year purchased some speedboats to aid in the fight against illegal mining.
Irene Wirekoaa Osei, ISD
