The Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC), in collaboration with the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), has retrieved abandoned mining equipment at Akango in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region.

The Chief Executive Officer of GIISDEC, Williams Okofo-Dateh, speaking to the media at the Akango galamsey site over the weekend, said the operation formed part of a national exercise to rid mining sites of hazardous iron and steel materials, with similar operations already undertaken in the Eastern Region.

He said the Corporation, in collaboration with NAIMOS, was carrying out the exercise on the orders of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to ensure that abandoned tools used for illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, were removed from the environment.

Okofo-Dateh said upon arrival at the site, which lies along the Ankobra River, the illegal miners fled, leaving behind their tools and heavy equipment.

“As soon as we got here, the boys doing the mining just took to their heels and these are their tools. We've been tasked by the Ministry to come after these guys, collaborate with NAIMOS, seize all these tools that they use in doing galamsey,” he said.

He said the team had worked along the banks and within the Ankobra River to retrieve chanfangs, water-pumping machines, metal pipes and other heavy machinery used for illegal mining activities.

He said with the support of NAIMOS, his agency had successfully retrieved all the chanfangs and pumping machines that had been abandoned along the river.

“We are collecting all these metal items from the land, from the water bodies and anywhere we find them. Once the military retrieves them, they become scrap and we have the responsibility to make sure that the environment is rid of all those things,” he stated.

He explained that as the agency responsible for iron and steel development in the country, GIISDEC had the mandate to ensure that scrap metals and hazardous iron and steel materials that polluted the environment, especially water bodies, were removed.

Okofo-Dateh said the tools that caused harm to the environment were made of iron and steel and must be removed to restore the land and rivers for productive use.

He commended the personnel of NAIMOS and the security agencies for providing protection for his team during the operation and described the collaboration as effective.

“Today I'm here, I have the protection of the bureau. They are giving protection to the boys we brought around to carry all these things and I think it's a good collaboration. With their support, we are able to do our work without any fear,” he added.

He said the exercise had the strong backing of the sector minister and was expected to be extended to other galamsey-prone areas in the Western Region and across the country.

The Ankobra River, which has been heavily polluted by illegal mining activities, is one of the major water bodies in the Western Region that the government is seeking to reclaim as part of efforts to fight galamsey.