Major footpaths and a football field for sporting activities of the Dagliga cluster of schools in the Nabdam District of the Upper East Region have been destroyed by illegal miners popularly known as galamsayers.
The illegal miners, in their hunt for gold dug pits on portions of the football field and footpaths, thwarting sports activities and endangering the lives of school children and teachers of the school.
A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the schools revealed that portions of the field meant for athletics had been destroyed with major footpaths from Logre and Kongo communities leading to the schools also completely destroyed.
At the primary school, the illegal miners could be seen from a distance, about 200 meters away from the school’s compound.
Mr Roger Atidoor, the Head teacher of the primary school, said the destruction of the football field was negatively affecting sporting activities and would completely halt all forms of sports in the school if the illegal miners were not stopped.
According to him, the destruction of the football field would have dire consequences on the school as it would not only mar practical lessons of Physical Education (PE) to unearth talents but would also deny the school the opportunity to expand.
He said all efforts by the schools to stop the illegal miners had proved futile and an official complaint of the issue to the Nabdam District Assembly had so far yielded no good results.
Ms Mary Magdalene Wompakeah, the Nabdam District Director of Education, described the activities by the illegal miners as “a worrying situation that makes it difficult for teachers and students accessing the school”.
Mr Maxwell Divom, the Assemblyman of the Zanlerigu-Dagliga Electoral area said the initial position of the football field poles had to be changed last year because of the illegal mining and if care was not taken the illegal Miners would mine into the school compound.
He said his outfit tried to stop the phenomenon but to no desirable outcome as the miners claimed to be the owners of the land.
He said the issue had since been reported to both the Nangodi and Pelungu police command of the Ghana Police service but no action had been taken as the Police had constantly complained of not having a vehicle to patrol the area.
Ms Agnes Anamoo, the Nabdam District Chief Executive told the GNA that, the activities by the galamsayers had been reported to the Assembly and her outfit was liaising with the police service to bring the perpetrators to book.
She said the assembly was ready to call for the prosecution of culprits and urged residents to help the police with information for the arrest of the illegal miners
A source at the District’s Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) said it was closely monitoring the activities by the miners and would soon crack the whip, adding that, the miners were tipped off when the police visited the site over the weekend leading to no arrest.
Source: Ghana News Agency
