Portions of the reclaimed land
THE TARKWA-Nsuaem Municipality of the Western Region has announced that it is embarking on a massive reclamation effort across the area to give degraded mining sites a facelift.
This is being done in collaboration with the Small-Scale Miners Association in the municipality.
The initiative is also in line with the Regional Security Council’s (REGSEC’s) policy and Western Regional Coordinating Council’s (WRCC’s) resolution for anti-galamsey and responsible mining practices.
Currently, the association is planting over 4,000 seedlings on 4.5 hectares of destroyed lands in the municipality.
This came to light when the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, recently embarked on a working visit to the municipality.
Vincent Appiah, Tarkwa District Manager of the Forestry Commission, explained that the massive reclamation initiative was to ensure the restoration of degraded lands to their previous state.
He mentioned that the reclamation exercise was being supported by the Forestry Commission which was supplying the seedlings.
The Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Chief Executive, Benjamin Kesse, said it was the Western Regional Minister who instructed all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) within the region to reclaim the destroyed lands.
This was part of local strategies to restore the environment.
“So, we were asked to commit the illegal miners to come back to site to reclaim the mess they have created.
“We met all the stakeholders including gold dealers and together with the Forestry Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency, we agreed on this project. So, the miners brought the machines to level the ground and the Forestry Commission provided the seedlings,” he said.
DAILY GUIDE later gathered that a similar reclamation exercise was alspo being rolled out in the Amenfi West Municipality.
FROM Emmanuel Opoku, Tarkwa