What was supposed to be a dawn swoop by members of Operation Vanguard to flush out illegal members from the concession of Ghana Real Rubber Estate (GREL) at Adiewoso in the Ahanta West Municipality in the Western Region, turned out to be a minefield for the military-cum police contingent.
The military personnel have been withdrawn from Operation Vanguard, but small number of them are currently protecting GREL. These are soldiers who joined forces with the police trying to flush out the illegal members.
Unfortunately, the members of the team fled the area and went back to their bases in Sekondi-Takoradi without firing a single shot, or make any attempt to effect arrests when they realised that they had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of illegal miners who were ready to defend their business interests with their blood.
The Operation Vanguard team was acting upon a story published by The Chronicle Newspaper last Thursday, highlighting how the illegal miners had invaded the GREL concession destroying the plantation, which is owned by foreign investors.
The Head of Operation Vanguard, Supt. Douglas Kumah, however, told The Chronicle in an interview that they did not run away, and that it was tactical pull out. According to him, they were going to re-strategise and come back later to sack the illegal miners from the concession to enable the investor get freedom to work.
The miners, on their part, told this reporter that they were prepared for any eventuality. According to them, they were working on a legitimate concession, which was allotted to them by the Ahanta West Municipal Security Council (MUSEC).
The Secretary of the miners association, Amos Bissiw, told reporters that there was no way they would leave the site, because of the claim that they do not have the permit to work there. According to him, the leadership of the miners, in a meeting with the MUSEC, traditional authorities and management of GREL, they were allocated the site for community mining. This was after the group had been trained in a small scale mining programme sponsored by the government.
To him, therefore, they were surprised that GREL, which was part of the discussion, would go back after the meeting to use the police to disturb them. “If GREL wants peace, then they should allow us to go on with our businesses,” he warned.
But the management of GREL has denied giving a permit to the miners to undertake their illegitimate business on their concession.
Head of Corporate Affairs of GREL, Perry Acheampong, said the company needed to immediately stop the miners, and that their activities could hamper the progress of the company, particularly, the new processing plant they were constructing to process raw material from the plantations.
“They have started within a small portion, and if not stopped, they could take the whole concession,” he noted.
According to Perry Acheampong, over 350 million euros invested in the area could go down the drain if they miners are not stopped in their tracks.
“We are not aware of a permit granted to them. MUSEC has not invited us to a meeting re-allocating a portion of our concession to the miners. This is an act of lawlessness, and if Security Council and Operation Vanguard cannot stop them and protect our investment, then we are not safe,” he said.
The Government of Ghana has a 25 percent share in GREL, and considering the rate at which the illegal miners have invaded the company’s concession, the earlier the miners are stopped, the better to save GREL investment.
The post Operation Vanguard team flees marauding galamsey operators appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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