Illegal mining: enforcement, compliance way to go – CSOs  

By Environment and Science Desk 

Accra, Jan. 29, GNA – Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have applauded the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for its latest directive banning all mining activities in and close to river bodies. 

They however suggested strict enforcement and compliance to address the menace, saying, “This release is good, but not enough, bearing in mind that, just issuing a statement without action of enforcement …we need to move from statements and promises to decisive compliance and enforcement actions.”   

“That is currently missing and it is the reason why we are failing at the fight to address galamsey.” Mr Daryl Bosu, the Deputy Director of A Rocha Ghana and spokesperson for CSOs told GNA on Wednesday. 

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Tuesday issued a directive to all individuals and entities involved in illegal mining (galamsey) in and near water bodies to cease with immediate effect. 

The directive is in accordance with Section 2 and 3b(ii) of the Environmental Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1124), the EPA said in a statement signed by its acting Chief Executive Officer,Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse. 

Mr Bosu urged the EPA to take steps to stop the siege on the country’s forest reserves which per the EPA LI 1652 are sensitive and fragile areas, and mostly the sources of rivers and water bodies. 

“There are gaps, and we cannot do this in bits as we have already been doing. Until that is done, we might as well keep window shopping for solutions,” he said. 

Illegal gold mining has been wreaking havoc in southern Ghana for years, particularly, in resource-rich regions, such as the Upper Offin sub-basin.  

According to International Water Management Institute’s study, these areas, once celebrated for their dense forests and flourishing cocoa plantations, now face a grim reality of land degradation, plummeting agricultural yields, and polluted water bodies. 

In 2024, the Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services, through the SERVIR West Africa programme, revealed that more than 670 square kilometres of land had been destroyed by illegal mining. 

The immediate consequences according to research from IWMI and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) include land degradation, water pollution. 

Water turbidity, which is a measure of suspended solids in water is dangerously high in the  galamsey areas, harming water quality, ecosystems, and human health.  

In March last year, the Ghana Water Company Limited complained about challenges with high turbidity levels in treating potable water for the people of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan area. 

The Daboase Water Treatment Plant, it said, was recording alarmingly high levels of turbidity (suspended particles in water). 

The company, which initially had to deal with only 100 Nephelometric Turbidity Units, NTU at the time of construction of the plant, was now grappling with 7000 NTU. 

Mr Daryl Bosu

The company was thus dealing with frequent breakdown of machinery and cost on treatment chemicals. 

Turbidity levels from galamsey have been recorded as high as 14,000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), which is far above the 2,000 NTU limit. 

Toxic chemicals from Galamsey also contaminate water bodies, which lead people to seek alternative water sources, which are too expensive or unsafe.  

High turbidity also cause algae blooms that can harm food chains and food webs. 

Research also links water pollution from galamsey to chronic diseases such as kidney failure, birth defects, and cancer.  

The Pra, Ankobra, Birim, Offin, Densu and Oti rivers have all been badly impacted by illegal mining, making it an existential threat.  

GNA