[ 2016-06-28 ]

Galamsey operators take over Kenyasi No.1 cemetery
Credible information reaching Today indicates that
small scale and illegal gold miners, otherwise
known in Ghanaian parlance as ‘galamsey’
operators, have turned a cemetery at Kenyasi
Number One in the Asutifi North District of the
Brong Region into a mining concession.

The cemetery, which is by the roadside of the
Kenyasi-Hwidiem road, Today gathered, has become a
fertile ground for small scale and illegal miners
many of whom are youth, to prospect for gold.

That development, Today understands, arose about
following the news that the said burial ground was
a reserved place for chiefs and influential people
in the community, which had beneath its soil gold
deposits.

What must have boomed galamsey operation at the
cemetery, according to our sources, was the
ongoing construction works on the Kenyasi-Hwidiem
road which affected some tombs, thereby exposing
some precious minerals hidden beneath the burial
ground.

The news of gold discovered at the cemetery, the
sources said, arouse the interest of some youth in
the community who started to prospect for both
gold and other precious minerals.


However, that development, Today learnt, has
angered some religious and civil society groups
based in the community.

According to them, if the situation continues, it
could affect the health of residents in the area.

In an interview with Today, an opinion leader
from Kenyasi Number One who pleaded to speak on
condition of anonymity confirmed the illegal
mining activity at the cemetery.

The opinion leader indicated that several
attempts by the chiefs and civil society groups to
stop the operators have failed.

Today also uncovered that the illegal mining
operators use all kinds of implements including
pick-axes, shovels and machetes to dig the
cemetery in search of precious stones.

Their targets, this paper gathered, were tombs of
people believed to be royals who might have been
buried with some precious jewels in the form of
bracelets and necklaces.

Kenyasi Number One is a gold town where mining
giant, Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL), is
operating.

Source - Today Newspaper

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