A Rocha Ghana has called for the abolishment of river guard operations as a strategy to combat illegal mining around water bodies and forest reserves, arguing that it has proven ineffective and is a waste of resources.

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

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

Speaking to Citi News on Monday, March 17, Deputy National Director of A Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bosu, questioned the effectiveness of the initiative, given that its implementation over the years has yielded no results.

“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.