Illegal mining activities, a major cause of flood in Tarkwa Nsuaem - NADMO

Correspondence from the Western Region

The National Disaster Management Organisation has attributed perennial floods in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality to the activities of illegal mining in river bodies.

About fifteen communities within the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipalities were affected by heavy floods after a one-week continuous rainfall.

Some of the affected areas include Aglika, Nsuaem, Simpa, Bonsa, Bonsawire, Esuoso, Benso, Jerusalem, Efuanta, Kyekyerewere, Nkwanta, New Takyiman, and Adiyie among others.

Some of these communities got flooded for more than a week leaving several people homeless, loss of properties, and buildings collapsing among others.

In all Over 472 households made up of 974 victims, including children and adults were affected in ten communities assessed by NADMO so far.

Speaking to GhanaWeb in an interview, the NADMO Director for Tarkwa Nsuaem, Francis Amoah, noted that although every part of the country experienced the rainfall, the impact in Tarkwa was massive, describing it as overwhelming.

“The rainfall was so heavy that most of these communities flooded for days.
And because of the seriousness of the flood, we could get closer to them because there was no way to do that, so we had to wait for the flood to subside before we could do that,” he said.

“As we speak, we are still moving to the various communities to assess the situation and to see the kind of support we can give them. We are left with few communities to visit,” he added.

Although the rainfall affected every part of the country, Mr Amoah said “For the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, we were terribly affected.”

He attributed this to the activities of illegal mining on the Bonsa River which is a major river in the municipality. He explained that the illegal activities on the river have widened the river boundary causing it to expand.

“Some of these activities have diverted the watercourse, allowing it to flow freely in a different direction, which in the end floods people’s homes,” he stated.

He gave an instance at Esuoso where the illegal miners have heaped silt under the bridge on the Esuoso River, which has diverted the course of the river.
The Municipal Director of NADMO again said even when the river had overflown its banks, the illegal miners were undertaking their illegal activities on the river with the help of canoes.

He urged community members who stay close to the river bodies to relocate to higher grounds so that in case of anything like this, they will not be affected.
He also appealed to regulatory bodies to enforce the laws on small-scale mining to avert any possible effect of flood within the municipality.

Mr Amoah disclosed that the Ghana Manganese donated some relief items to the assembly which has been distributed to victims at Bonsa.

He noted there are plans to gather some relief items to be distributed to the other victims.

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