A Rocha Ghana calls for river guard operations to be abolished

A Rocha Ghana has called for the abolition of river guard operations as a strategy to combat illegal mining near water bodies and forest reserves, arguing that the approach has been ineffective and a waste of resources.

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, recently announced the launch of the ‘Blue Water Initiative’ and the training of the first batch of ‘River Guards’ to mitigate the environmental impact of illegal mining in the Western Region.

The initiative forms part of President John Dramani Mahama’s commitment to restoring Ghana’s environment and rehabilitating polluted water bodies.

Speaking to Citi News monitored by Radiooneghana.com, Deputy National Director of A Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bosu, raised concerns about the effectiveness of the initiative, noting that similar efforts in the past have failed to yield results.

He further urged the government to channel resources into empowering residents in mining communities to report illegal mining activities, emphasizing that local communities are best positioned to identify and report such violations.

“We don’t see the strategy as going to be effective; we wish that it was scrapped entirely. What exactly are they going to do? Are they going to do anything different from what past administrations have done?

“We need resources to rehabilitate degraded land and to clean the rivers. We don’t need to be spending those resources on things like river guards,” he emphasized.

He further urged the government to redirect resources into empowering residents in mining communities to report miners encroaching on these sites.

“When communities realize illegal mining activities, nobody responds to them. The community members are the frontline vanguards because they see the activities on their way to their farms, markets, and so on. They should be given priority when they report these acts to the compliance agencies, “He stated.