A joint security anti-galamsey operation has burnt 150 makeshift, unauthorized structures and rounded up 31 suspected illegal miners at an emerging illegal mining community in the Banda District of the Bono Region.

The security operatives seized 11 excavators, more than 15 motorbikes and about 10 tricycles as well as quantities of fuel in gallons and also destroyed eight Chanfan machines used by the illegal miners.

More than 1,000 residents, including women and children at the illegal mining community, popularly known as “Operator”, had also been displaced. Hitherto, they lived in temporary structures.

The operation was conducted in the early hours of Monday by the military and the police led by the Bono Regional Coordinating Council.

Speaking in an interview with the media, Mr Joseph Addae Akwaboa, the Bono Regional Minister said: “The Operator community is now a dead town because everything has been destroyed”.

He said the anti-galamsey operation would be intensified to stem illegal mining activities that were becoming alarming in parts of the region, warning that the suspects would be screened and those culpable would be prosecuted accordingly.

Mr Akwaboa said a formal report would be submitted to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for guidance on the possible land reclamation.

Madam Abiba, an operator of the biggest drinking bar in the community and a mother of four children told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that she had worked in the area for about five years to fend for herself and children.

She described the exercise as unfortunate and appealed to the government to create employment opportunities for the youth who depended on illegal mining for life.