The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has launched a new operation called Operation WATER SHIELD to protect Ghana’s major rivers from galamsey.
NAIMOS says this operation will not only chase miners working on the rivers but also go after the people behind them, the sponsors who fund illegal mining, and the businesses that supply excavators, water pumps, changfan machines and other equipment used for galamsey.
In a statement issued on Friday, September 11, NAIMOS said past operations mostly focused on raiding miners at the site but this new one will follow the money and the equipment too.
“The operation marks a shift from isolated raids to a sustained, intelligence-led campaign to secure priority river systems from their source areas to downstream communities and water-treatment facilities,” the statement read.
Some of the rivers under the spotlight include the Birim, Ankobra, Tano, Bia, Pra and Offin, as well as parts of the Black and White Volta.
These rivers, according to NAIMOS, have suffered heavily from illegal mining and are now a top priority.
NAIMOS said it is working with the police, military and other state agencies, to stop miners from reaching the riverbanks and cut off the networks that supply them with equipment.
“The operation will protect strategic river source areas; deny illegal miners access to riverbanks and waterways; dismantle mining logistics networks; disrupt the criminal and financial structures sustaining illegal mining; support the restoration of degraded water bodies; and establish sustained monitoring to prevent reoccupation of cleared areas.”
The Secretariat added that Operation WATER SHIELD will be firm, sustained and uncompromising, within the law.
Any excavator, chanfang machine, water pump or dredging equipment found being used for galamsey will be seized and “immobilised or otherwise dealt with in accordance with applicable law.”
Read the full statement below:
