Accra: 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.
According to Ghana News Agency, the directive applies to all unauthorized mining activities. Hence, the EPA, Ministry of Environment, Science, and Technology, Minerals Commission, Water Resources Commission, and the relevant security agencies would seize equipment used in illegal mining operations in line with applicable laws. The authorities would intensify surveillance and inspections of mining sites and prosecute individuals and organizations found violating environmental laws.
The statement emphasized that illegal mining activities are threatening the health of the country's environment, the safety of the citizens, and the sustainability of its natural resources. Recent reports and inspections have revealed the ongoing devastation of mining activities in and around water bodies, a practice that poses significant risks to ecosystems, public health, and future generations.
The statement urged all mining entities to strictly comply with the environmental laws of Ghana, including obtaining the necessary permits and implementing sustainable mining practices that minimize environmental impacts. It also urged the public to become vigilant and report any illegal mining activities to the relevant authorities and the EPA hotline at 0506699466/0506694760.
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 program, revealed that more than 670 square kilometers of land-an area comparable to the size of Singapore-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 and water pollution.
Water turbidity, a measure of suspended solids in water, is high due to galamsey activities, harming water quality, ecosystems, and human health. In March last year, the Ghana 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 was recording alarmingly high levels of turbidity, causing frequent breakdowns of machinery and increased costs on treatment chemicals.
Turbidity levels from galamsey have been recorded as high as 14,000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), far above the 2,000 NTU limit. Toxic chemicals from galamsey also contaminate water bodies, forcing people to seek alternative water sources, which are often too expensive or unsafe. High turbidity also causes 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.
