The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to intensifying efforts against illegal mining, also known as galamsey, particularly on water bodies.

According to him, the government would soon deploy law enforcement agencies to target areas with rising illegal mining activities with a special focus on the Central Region.

“We are going to have the review today, and I'm 1,000% certain that we are going to deploy. We are going to ramp up our enforcement measures. So all these places you are talking about, we are going to have a clean up there.

“We are going to have a complete swoop. We are going to send law enforcement agencies to take a swoop of that whole stretch, particularly the Central Region. You can be rest assured of that, and you can monitor that,” he said.

Conversations on galamsey and its dire impact arose after the management of Ghana Water Company Limited in the Central Region announced that there would be challenges with water supply in Cape Coast, Elmina, and surrounding communities.

Read also: GWL warns of severe water supply challenges in Cape Coast and Elmina due to ‘galamsey’ in River Pra

The company revealed that the recent demand-supply gap is due to inadequate raw water received at the Sekyere Hemang Water Treatment Plant (WTP) caused by galamsey activities.

Environmental groups, civil society organisations, and concerned citizens have since voiced their frustrations over the lack of significant progress in curbing galamsey activities, which have resulted in the contamination of rivers, destruction of farmlands, and loss of livelihoods for many Ghanaians.

But speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr Jinapor who is also the Member of Parliament for Damongo assured the public that a comprehensive operation would be launched within the next 24 hours to clear illegal miners from key areas.

The minister further explained that the government’s anti-illegal mining initiative, known as Operation Halt, was designed to be a targeted and strategic effort.

He explained that the operation is not continuous but rather surgical, with enforcement actions taken whenever illegal mining activities are identified as increasing in particular areas.

“So we’re going to do the conduct the review today, and within the next 24 hours. We're going to find the resources and move them,” he said.