NAIMOS Raids Illegal Mining Site at Subin River Headwaters in Bekwai

The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has raided illegal mining sites along the Subin River at Ahwiren in the Bekwai Municipality of the Ashanti Region, seizing equipment and destroying mining machines used in the operation.

The raid, conducted over the weekend, targeted mining activities taking place directly at the headwaters of the Subin River.

According to NAIMOS, the team seized five monitors and four control boards from five excavators found at the site.

One excavator had neither a monitor nor a control board. The team also burnt four pumping engines.

Other items retrieved during the operation included two excavator keys and two Adler pump-action guns with 19 cartridges.

NAIMOS officials said checks revealed that mining was ongoing at the very source of the Subin River.

“The miners had blocked and created a diversion for the headwaters,” a statement from the Secretariat noted.

The illegal site was located about 50 meters from the Ahwiren-Bekwai main road.

Further investigations showed that while the operators had applied for registration under the rCOMSDEP program, they had not received approval.

Officials also found that the coordinates where the mining was taking place did not match those on their application.

Despite the equipment and scale of operations, the miners had established offices in the community and claimed they were not engaged in illegal mining.

NAIMOS said the operation forms part of ongoing efforts to protect water bodies and forest reserves across the country, particularly in the Ashanti Region which has been heavily impacted by illegal mining.

Story by Hajara Fuseini

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