Marine police and personnel from the Air Force Military will soon join the Operation Vanguard Task force in the Eastern Region to help clamp down on about 3,500 defiant illegal miners engaging in alluvia mining on the Birim River.

The illegal miners popularly known as ‘Chanfai,’ are still working on the Apapam to Akyem Fosu stretch of the Birim River despite pleas from the government for them to quit.

“There are about 3,500 ‘Chanfai’ illegal miners on the Apapam to Akyem Fosu stretch of the Birim river still…and I can tell you, they are going to employ the Marine Police, they are going to employ the Navy, they are going to employ the Air Force to clamp down on these miners,” the Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfuor, said during an interview on Radio 1, yesterday in the Eastern Region.

In this regard, the minister cautioned illegal miners still working in parts of the region to peacefully pack off for their own good.

He said the task force was resolute to executing its mission despite the recent incident at Akukuso where four persons were found dead in a mining pit.

According to him, the task force had no hand in the deaths of the four but believed the homicide investigators dispatched would unravel the cause of death of the four.

The minister urged the public to continue to provide support to the task force to help protect the environment for the benefit of all.

Hon. Darfuor stated that mining companies with valid permits have been provided with military protection by the Regional Security Council (REGSEC).

“REGSEC has a detachment of army providing security to mining companies with licensed permit documents, example is Nawara at Nsuapemso, Kibi Goldfield and Elite Mining at Techiman,” he said.