The angry-looking Minister of Roads and Highway Kwasi Amoako-Atta ordered two illegal miners to wash and clean mud that had accumulated on some of the Akrofufu to Twapease tarred roads in the Atiwa West District of the Eastern region.
According to reports, the illegal miners were transporting excavators from their mining site near the roadside with low bird truck vehicles, spreading mud on the tarred road and causing gridlock.
While returning from a funeral at Twapease over the weekend, the Roads Minister—who also serves as the area’s Member of Parliament—ran into traffic jams with a few New Patriotic Party (NPP) constituency executives.
When Amoako-Atta saw the mess the illegal miners had made on the road and the damage they had done to the road’s shoulders, he furiously ordered his police guard to arrest them.
While two of the miners were detained, others managed to flee.
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About one kilometer of the road had to be washed of mud by the illegal miners.
They were later turned over to the Kwabeng Police for additional inquiry.
He said “Look at this distance, more than a kilometer of road has been destroyed with mud. The entire stretch of the tarred road has been muddied so no car could cross. All the vehicles have parked at both. They have destroyed the shoulders of the road so I stopped and ordered my bodyguard to arrest them.”
He claimed that the road, which was built with a significant amount of taxpayer money, is being destroyed by shady activities.
“I have handed them over to the police for the law to take its cause. The police in their own wisdom will carry their own investigation,” he said.
Amoako Atta declared “war” on the region’s illegal mining and issued a warning that going forward, the district will crack down on illegal miners.
