Galamsey Deadly Impact On Densu River EPA Demands Swift Solution

The Densu River, stretching 116 km from the Atiwa Forest to the Weija Dam, is facing severe degradation due to intensified irresponsible mining activities in several communities.

A built-up of illegal mining in areas such as Potrase, Odumase, and Apedwa Obuase within the Abuakwa South Municipality has devastated the vital waterways, which support approximately three million residents from the Akyem area.

The Densu River, which flows through Potrase, Nankese, Abisim, Apedwa, Nsawam, and Adeiso before emptying into the Weija Dam in Accra, has been severely impacted and transformed into a milky sludge devoid of life, posing a significant threat to both human and aquatic ecosystems.

From an aerial perspective, during an investigation by the Ghana News Agency, extensive cocoa farmlands have also been devastated while the buffer zone surrounding the Densu River has been obliterated, with illegal miners wreaking havoc across arable land equivalent to 15 football fields, all while operating without accountability.

The frightening situation has prompted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to demand collaborative action and swift legal reforms to immediately stop the menace, restore the ecosystem, and safeguard human and aquatic life.

Pointing out the growing threat in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Koforidua, Mr. Felix Addo Okyireh, the Eastern Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, said that no license would be given to miners to operate close to water bodies.

He said that his outfit has found that increasing mining activities near the river body tended to remove the vegetative cover of the river, exacerbating the degradation.

“If the community, chiefs, opinion leaders, non-governmental organisations, and the government don’t take action to stop the galamseyers [illegal miners], eventually we will lose the Densu River entirely,” he said.

He added: “When the vegetative cover is depleted, we expose the river to the whims of the weather, and if it happens hellip;during the dry season where evaporation becomes high, the river that serves about three million people will eventually dry up, which is why there’s a need for pragmatic actions to stop the menace.”

Mr. Okyireh stated that combating illegal mining activities was a national security matter, as the illegal miners who destroy arable lands are often fully armed at the sites, while EPA officials are not trained to handle arms or control them.

He also stated that combating illegal mining activities was a national security matter, as illegal miners who destroy arable lands often fully armed at their sites, while EPA officials are not trained to handle arms or control these gangsters.

“We haven’t been trained to hold a gun or how to shoot, and because illegal mining is a national security matter and should be addressed as such, if we don’t address ithellip;we will end up losing all our water bodies” he added.GNA