Mr Isaac Kofi Marfo, the Atwima-Mponua District Chief Executive, has called on political and traditional leaders in communities that share the Offin River to collaborate and strengthen efforts to protect it.
He said a strong collaboration between stakeholders from the Atwima-Mponua, Atwima-Nwabiagya-South Municipal, and Ahafo-Ano South/West districts, was needed to sustainably protect the Offin River from the activities of illegal miners.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Nyinahin after leading a taskforce to undertake a three-day anti-galamsey operation in the district, Mr Marfo said the protection of the Offin River was a collective responsibility, where all the districts and communities sharing its boundaries must be involved.
He said the current state of the river was a threat to the survival of the people, many of whom were farmers, hence the need to protect it and the forests.
The taskforce burnt about 160 changfan machines and 72 dredge boats belonging to the illegal miners, during the operation at Abompe, Beposo, Ntabaanu, Abaasua, Nantiedi, Kotokuom and Gogolikrom, all in the Atwima-Mponua District.
Mr Marfo said members of the taskforce included small-scale miners association, the district mines committee, National Intelligence Bureau, Ghana Police Service, and some vigilante groups in the communities.
Some of the machines were hidden in the river but were retrieved by the taskforce and destroyed, he said.
