PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Crackdown on illegal miners, ‘killer’ gas reported in Ghana
Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The clampdown on illegal miners, “killer” gas in Accra and arrival of US fire experts to unravel causes of devastating fires were some of the stories reported in Ghana this week.
The media also highlighted the judgement of the Supreme Court ordering a British Virgin Island-registered company to refund to Ghana 25 million euros paid to it for the construction of a stadium in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city.
“Don't arrest us; we're ready to go illegal, Chinese miners tell Immigration,” was the headline of the state-owned Graphic, which said 202 Chinese engaged in illegal mining in Ghana had volunteered to return to their home country.
They have, therefore, pleaded with the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to process and repatriate them to China.
The newspaper said their decision to return home stemmed from a clampdown on illegal mining activities by the authorities.
The GIS is screening them to confirm their nationalities before allowing the Chinese Embassy to arrange for their departure.
The Head of Public Affairs of the GIS, Mr Francis Palmdeti, said the screening process would enable the GIS to establish how the Chinese entered the country and where they carried out their illegal mining activities.
The Chinese are not the only foreigners involved in destructive small-scale mining as Italians, Russians and Niger citizens have also been rounded up by the security agencies.
The Graphic reported that on 8 June, about 60 foreigners were arrested for allegedly indulging in gold mining at Kyebi in the Eastern Region and in some parts of the Western Region.
Mr Palmdeti said their respective embassies had been invited to confirm their true nationalities and provide them with travel documents to return to their home countries.
The state-owned Ghanaian Times carried the story under the headline “202 foreign (illegal miners) surrender” with the story saying that in order to avoid being arrested by the National Task Force against illegal mining, 202 foreigners, mainly Chinese, had surrendered to the GIS.
It said the latest to arrive at the premises of the GIS headquarters in Accra on Monday were 157 Chinese, including 15 females.
The Graphic said a Chinese delegation had, meanwhile, arrived in the country to discuss the modalities for repatriating their nationals arrested for illegally engaging in small-scale mining.
The delegation was scheduled to hold meetings with the ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Interior, and Immigration officials on procedures and timelines for the repatriation exercise, it said.
A Deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, reiterated that Ghana was not targeting Chinese in the ongoing clamp down on illegal miners.
He explained that the exercise was to stop everybody engaged in the illegal activity and recalled that in a recent arrest, six Russians and others from the Americas, South Africa and Niger were arrested.
In another story on the subject, the Graphic said a total of 1,072 Chinese working as gold miners in Ghana had returned to their homes in Shanglin County of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
A statement from the Shanglin government quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying that the "gold rush" started in 2006. It cited estimates that around 12,000 Shanglin natives had engaged in gold mining in Ghana to date.
The Graphic, in its story on a poisonous gas at a western suburb of Accra, said a seemingly harmless gas that emitted from the ground might be slowly and negatively affecting the health of people who lived at Dunkonaa and its environs in the Ga-South municipality in the Greater Accra Region.
Known as radon, the gas, which is colourless, odourless and tasteless, is known to be a major cause of respiratory infections, blood poisoning and lung cancer where it is highly concentrated.
The paper quoted the National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Kofi Portuphy, as saying that a team of scientists, including those from the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), indicated in 2000 that the gas coming out of the Dunkonaa area was highly concentrated.
He said NADMO became curious when some residents of the area started reporting the emission of smoke from the area.
“US team arrives to help probe market fires,” was the headline of the Ghanaian Times which said a team of experts from the US arrived in the country on Tuesday to assist Ghanaian security agencies to unravel the causes of the rampant fire outbreaks in the country.
It said the team, which specialises in investigations into fires, was expected to begin work immediately with its Ghanaian counterparts.
The investigations would be broadened to include determining whether the incessant infernos were works of arsonists.
"Refund 25 million euros," was the headline of the Graphic on the Supreme Court's judgement on a suit brought by former Attorney-General Martin Amidu.
The Ghanaian Times carried the same story under the headline, "Refund all the money."
The Graphic said Waterville Holdings had been ordered by the Court to refund all the money paid to it by the Ghana Government because it had no valid and constitutional contractural agreement with the government.
The company is expected to refund 25 million euros it received because the 2006 contract to build a 40,000-seater stadium in Kumasi for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was unconstitutional, as it should have been before parliament for approval. The government at the time cancelled the agreement.
-0- PANA MA 15June2013
The media also highlighted the judgement of the Supreme Court ordering a British Virgin Island-registered company to refund to Ghana 25 million euros paid to it for the construction of a stadium in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city.
“Don't arrest us; we're ready to go illegal, Chinese miners tell Immigration,” was the headline of the state-owned Graphic, which said 202 Chinese engaged in illegal mining in Ghana had volunteered to return to their home country.
They have, therefore, pleaded with the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to process and repatriate them to China.
The newspaper said their decision to return home stemmed from a clampdown on illegal mining activities by the authorities.
The GIS is screening them to confirm their nationalities before allowing the Chinese Embassy to arrange for their departure.
The Head of Public Affairs of the GIS, Mr Francis Palmdeti, said the screening process would enable the GIS to establish how the Chinese entered the country and where they carried out their illegal mining activities.
The Chinese are not the only foreigners involved in destructive small-scale mining as Italians, Russians and Niger citizens have also been rounded up by the security agencies.
The Graphic reported that on 8 June, about 60 foreigners were arrested for allegedly indulging in gold mining at Kyebi in the Eastern Region and in some parts of the Western Region.
Mr Palmdeti said their respective embassies had been invited to confirm their true nationalities and provide them with travel documents to return to their home countries.
The state-owned Ghanaian Times carried the story under the headline “202 foreign (illegal miners) surrender” with the story saying that in order to avoid being arrested by the National Task Force against illegal mining, 202 foreigners, mainly Chinese, had surrendered to the GIS.
It said the latest to arrive at the premises of the GIS headquarters in Accra on Monday were 157 Chinese, including 15 females.
The Graphic said a Chinese delegation had, meanwhile, arrived in the country to discuss the modalities for repatriating their nationals arrested for illegally engaging in small-scale mining.
The delegation was scheduled to hold meetings with the ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Interior, and Immigration officials on procedures and timelines for the repatriation exercise, it said.
A Deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, reiterated that Ghana was not targeting Chinese in the ongoing clamp down on illegal miners.
He explained that the exercise was to stop everybody engaged in the illegal activity and recalled that in a recent arrest, six Russians and others from the Americas, South Africa and Niger were arrested.
In another story on the subject, the Graphic said a total of 1,072 Chinese working as gold miners in Ghana had returned to their homes in Shanglin County of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
A statement from the Shanglin government quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying that the "gold rush" started in 2006. It cited estimates that around 12,000 Shanglin natives had engaged in gold mining in Ghana to date.
The Graphic, in its story on a poisonous gas at a western suburb of Accra, said a seemingly harmless gas that emitted from the ground might be slowly and negatively affecting the health of people who lived at Dunkonaa and its environs in the Ga-South municipality in the Greater Accra Region.
Known as radon, the gas, which is colourless, odourless and tasteless, is known to be a major cause of respiratory infections, blood poisoning and lung cancer where it is highly concentrated.
The paper quoted the National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Kofi Portuphy, as saying that a team of scientists, including those from the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), indicated in 2000 that the gas coming out of the Dunkonaa area was highly concentrated.
He said NADMO became curious when some residents of the area started reporting the emission of smoke from the area.
“US team arrives to help probe market fires,” was the headline of the Ghanaian Times which said a team of experts from the US arrived in the country on Tuesday to assist Ghanaian security agencies to unravel the causes of the rampant fire outbreaks in the country.
It said the team, which specialises in investigations into fires, was expected to begin work immediately with its Ghanaian counterparts.
The investigations would be broadened to include determining whether the incessant infernos were works of arsonists.
"Refund 25 million euros," was the headline of the Graphic on the Supreme Court's judgement on a suit brought by former Attorney-General Martin Amidu.
The Ghanaian Times carried the same story under the headline, "Refund all the money."
The Graphic said Waterville Holdings had been ordered by the Court to refund all the money paid to it by the Ghana Government because it had no valid and constitutional contractural agreement with the government.
The company is expected to refund 25 million euros it received because the 2006 contract to build a 40,000-seater stadium in Kumasi for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was unconstitutional, as it should have been before parliament for approval. The government at the time cancelled the agreement.
-0- PANA MA 15June2013
