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Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), led by Chief Executive Officer Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse, have shut down five Chinese-owned warehouses at Anwia Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region for storing and fabricating changfan machines and other equipment used in illegal mining activities.
The warehouses, which had been registered as spare parts storage facilities, were found to contain hundreds of changfan machines and components linked to galamsey operations.
The enforcement exercise follows the EPA’s recent nationwide directive banning the fabrication, importation, sale, and use of changfan machines due to their severe environmental impact.
According to the Agency, the manufacturing of the equipment was being carried out without the necessary environmental permits, in violation of the Environmental Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1124) and the Environmental Protection (Environmental Assessment) Regulations, 2025 (L.I. 2504).
Speaking in an interview, Professor Klutse explained that the operation forms part of the EPA’s broader strategy to combat illegal mining and mitigate its devastating effects on Ghana’s water bodies, forests, and farmlands.
“This is just the beginning. The operation will be replicated in other regions heavily affected by galamsey to ensure full compliance with environmental laws,” she stated.
The EPA Chief Executive further warned that any individual or warehouse found violating the directive will face prosecution in accordance with the law.
