The Ashanti Regional Anti-illegal Mining Task Force insists on ridding all forest reserves in the region of illegal mining activities.

 Acting Regional Security Coordinator, Captain (Retired) John Kwame Jabari, says their sustained operations in the forest reserves are yielding positive results.

“I can confidently tell you that all the forest reserves in the Ashanti Region are rid of all illegal mining activities. What is left is the reclamation of the forest reserves”, he said.

The taskforce recently carried out raids in the Offinso Shelterbelt and Kotokuom Forests, where a member of the Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response Team was slashed with a machete by an illegal miner.

The Rapid Response Team of the Forestry Commission moved to the Offinso Shelterbelt to stop the invasion of the forest by illegal miners.

 It is reported that the team was ambushed by the armed illegal miners, leading to a violent attack on the commission’s officer, who sustained injuries to his knee after being slashed with a machete.

 The Ashanti Regional Anti-illegal Mining Task Force raided the forest after the incident.

 Acting Regional Security Coordinator, Captain (Rtd) John Jabari says some excavators were demobilized for onward transportation in the exercise.

“We have removed the control boards and batteries of the excavators. Tomorrow, we can bring the lowbed trucks to take the excavators away”, he said.

The Regional Anti-illegal Mining Taskforce has waged war on mining in forests and water bodies, leading to some arrests.

“The young men or the group which came there just arrived at the scene with their machines so that alerted the forest guards to go there and that incident happened. It is not that the people were mining at the place because I can confidently tell you that all the forests are rid of illegal miners”, Captain (Rtd) Jabari said.

But this claim has been refuted by Environmental Journalist, Erastus Asare Donkor.

“The Bekwai Forest has been stable not because the REGSEC or anybody has been fighting anything there. But from the previous administration, the Police Commander has been staunch and unrelenting. He has burnt a number of excavators in Bekwai Forest and now that place is a no-go area”, he said.

Mr. Asare Donkor continued, “we know there are other areas. Watreso, Abenkro and other areas. If you talk to farmers who go to their farms every day, they will tell you this is far from over.”

Meanwhile, the anti-illegal mining task force has resolved to operate a 24-hour surveillance to sustain efforts to rid the forests of illegal miners.

 “We have information that some of them have started operating in the evening, so we have to start operating a 24-hour galamsey fight”, he said.

Captain Jabari added, “In the coming week, we will invite the media with the forestry commission and we will show them all the forests we have reclaimed or taken back from the illegal miners.”