NAIMOS Vows to Sustain Fight Against Illegal Mining Despite Operational Challenges

The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has reaffirmed its commitment to the fight against illegal mining, describing the campaign as a marathon that requires sustained efforts to remove illegal mining infrastructure from Ghana’s rivers.

Colonel K.S. Appiah, Director of Operations at NAIMOS, said the secretariat remained determined to dismantle structures and equipment used for illegal mining despite the operational and logistical challenges confronting its task forces.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, October 22, he warned that abandoning enforcement efforts while illegal mining equipment remained in water bodies would worsen the environmental damage caused by the practice.

“As has been mentioned on many occasions, the fight against illegal mining is a marathon, and we are poised to go through this race to ensure that we take out all illegal mining infrastructure on our river bodies,” he said.

Colonel Appiah acknowledged that removing illegal mining equipment from rivers was a difficult undertaking, citing the size and weight of the machinery, as well as the challenges involved in accessing some mining sites.

He explained that task force personnel were often compelled to dismantle or burn makeshift mining platforms and chanfangs because transporting the equipment out of river bodies was extremely difficult. In some locations, the absence of accessible roads makes it nearly impossible for trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles to reach the sites.

“It is very difficult to move them out of the rivers because road access and access for trucks to the areas are almost impossible. So, we need to destroy and burn them, and later, in coordination with the GSDC, which has the capability to lift them from the river bodies,” he said.

Despite these challenges, Colonel Appiah maintained that NAIMOS would continue its operations to rid Ghana’s rivers of illegal mining infrastructure.

He reiterated the secretariat’s determination to sustain enforcement efforts and protect the country’s water bodies from further environmental degradation caused by illegal mining