Illegal gold-mining barges decline on Ghana’s Tano River
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on 3News
The number of barges used for illegal gold mining has fallen sharply on the Tano River in Ghana following operations by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat. The change was observed during a visit on 30 October by officials and 15 journalists, according to its spokesperson Paa Kwesi Schandorf, quoted by 3News.
The number of changfans, the barges used for illegal gold mining, has fallen sharply on the Tano River in Ghana after repeated operations against illegal mining. Paa Kwesi Schandorf, spokesperson for the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), announced this after a visit on Friday with 15 journalists, 3News reports.
The decline was attributed to operations under the Operation Water Shield initiative, led by NAIMOS Director of Operations Colonel K. S. Appiah. Teams destroyed hundreds of changfans on the Tano, but Paa Kwesi Schandorf stressed that the intervention was not yet enough to restore water quality.
Monitoring is to continue on the Tano and other waterways threatened by illegal gold mining. Ghanaian Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah is to oversee further restoration efforts, according to the NAIMOS spokesperson. The operation follows damage caused by illegal gold mining, which had notably destroyed a bridge and isolated villages in Ghana.
