Small scale miners hit streets with 'Yere bre' demo

The Ashanti Regional chapter of the Small Scale Miners Association is expected to hit the streets today, Tuesday, September 12, to protest against a temporary ban on their activities.

The six-month ban was part of the government’s effort to fight illegal mining. Although the six months have elapsed, the government is yet to lift the ban.

The group argues that the situation is worrying as it is affecting their source of livelihood.

READ ALSO: Government halts issuance of small scale mining license

Ahead of the demonstration, the Assistant Secretary of the association, Kwame Appiah told Accra-based Class FM: “From day one as patriotic Ghanaians, we all complied with the government’s initiative because we are all witnesses to the sort of pollution that was happening all over the country and on our various river bodies and also how degraded the land was subjected to due to the activities of these illegal operators within the sector.

“So we all worked hand in hand with government to try to make sure we sanitise the system. That was why even with our legitimate documents we complied with government’s directive because we all wanted to achieve the same results in getting the system sanitised for future mining operations.

READ ALSO: Illegal miners to be used for tree planting program – Amewu

“But after a series of consultations and engagements, we are yet to receive any positive signs from government. We owe a lot of banks and the banks are on our necks. We can’t even afford to pay the fees of our wards… so we thought it wise to demonstrate peacefully to make all Ghanaians know the sort of hardship that we are going through. We want government to come out and give us the opportunity to go back to our various places of operations so that we can also contribute our quota to the development of this country.”

The planned demonstration is dubbed ‘Yere bre’, to wit, ‘we are suffering’.