Dollar power, a mining community in the Bole District of the Savannah region is synonymous with Galamsey.
You would be fortunate to get access to the Dollar power community as a first timer, despite several attempts by government to close it down using the military and other security measures since its establishment in 2015. It has grown to become one of the popular illegal mining sites in the country.
The population of the people here is estimated around 17,000 with different categories of people both nationals and non-nationals.
Gold is what they are all looking for as all forms of criminal activities including armed robbery, stealing, drug abuse among others take centre stage.
But access to basic social amenities including schools, health facilities, potable water among others is a matter of concern to residents.
Children of school going age have to walk several kilometres, including crossing a river to attend school.
Residents lament the situation is greatly impacting negatively on the lives of the people, especially children of school going age.
“Our children are roaming about doing nothing because there is no school here and we are worried because their future is at stake”, one resident lamented.
Mufti Borejinkpir Habib is the only person with influence to guide you to the community.
“Since 2019 when I got access to this community, we have tried together with other stakeholders to establish a school here however due to the lack of access road and other challenges our efforts failed.
“However, we can’t stop fighting and this is the time the Bole District assembly should consider constructing the road to dollar power”, he added.
For an environmentalist and Co-Founder of TAMA Foundation, Dr. Chrys Anab, there is the need for government to introduce a more sustainable development plan for mining communities.
“The activities of the people are harming the environment and they are not ready to forgo their source of livelihood so the best we can do as a country is to regularize their activities”.
District chief executive for Bole Alele Veronica Hemmeng is equally disturbed about the developmental gabs in dollar power.
She said the assembly is working to address the challenges.
“We have started a health facility project and will soon open up the road to dollar power but that will require more resources”, she stressed.
A total of 265,188 children of school going age in Ghana are not in school and that’s according to a world bank’s collection of development indicators report for 2020.
Goal 9 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals aim to Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans-border infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.
To achieve this goal, conscious efforts must be made by governments to extend basic infrastructure development to rural communities.
