The number of changfans operating on the Tano River has significantly reduced following sustained anti-illegal mining operations by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), Spokesperson for NAIMOS, Paa Kwesi Schandorf has disclosed.
He said the development was observed during a visit on Friday, October 30 to the river by a team of 15 journalists who joined NAIMOS officials to assess the impact of Operation Water Shield on illegal mining activities along the water body and its surrounding areas.
According to the NAIMOS spokesperson, the journalists had the opportunity to independently observe and verify progress made by the task force in tackling illegal mining on the river.
NAIMOS spokesperson attributed the reduction in the number of changfans to sustained operations led by NAIMOS and its Director of Operations, Colonel K. S. Appiah.
“Earlier this afternoon, we were on the Tano River with a team of 15 journalists to assess the impact of Operation Water Shield being aggressively implemented by NAIMOS.
“As of now, the most crucial development to report is that changfans on River Tano HAVE GREATLY REDUCED, thanks to the sustained operations led by the NAIMOS Director of Operations, Colonel K. S. Appiah,” he said.
The spokesperson, however, cautioned that removing hundreds of changfans from the river does not immediately restore its water quality, describing the intervention as an important first step towards reclaiming the water body.
“For the record, the destruction of hundreds of changfans on the Tano River doesn’t immediately make its pure, but it’s a crucial starting point, and under the leadership of the sector minister, Hon. Armah-Kofi Buah, more actions will be taken to redeem our water bodies,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
NAIMOS is expected to maintain surveillance on the Tano River and other critical water sources as part of efforts to combat illegal mining and restore degraded water bodies.
He said further interventions would be undertaken under the leadership of Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah to support the government’s vision of restoring Ghana’s water bodies to their natural conditions.
