{"id":94927,"date":"2025-09-19T14:17:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=94927"},"modified":"2025-09-19T14:17:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:17:42","slug":"improved-turbidity-in-key-rivers-shows-progress-in-galamsey-fight-sammy-gyamfi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=94927","title":{"rendered":"Improved turbidity in key rivers shows progress in galamsey fight \u2013 Sammy Gyamfi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod, Sammy Gyamfi, has defended the government\u2019s fight against illegal mining, known as galamsey, saying recent water quality data shows improvements in some areas despite worsening conditions in others.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Joy FM\u2019s Super Morning Show, concerns were raised about the fact that turbidity levels in many rivers have increased from 14,000 NTU in August 2024 to 32,000 NTU currently, forcing water treatment plants to shut down. The Kwanyako water treatment plant was an example.<\/p>\n

In response, Mr Gyamfi described the claim as a \u201chalf-truth,\u201d noting that while the figures cited were correct, they did not present the full picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not wholly true. The data you\u2019ve put out is correct. But that is not all there is in terms of data on turbidity levels,\u201d he explained. \u201cIn many cases it has worsened, you\u2019re right. But in many cases too we\u2019ve seen improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shared figures from the Water Resources Commission to back his point.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiver Densu at Mangoase in July last year had a turbidity level of 256, today it is 44. That\u2019s an improvement. River Nsawam was 59 in July 2024; in July 2025, it is 19.1. River Ankobra at Dominase has dropped from 3,720 NTU last year to 2,920 now. <\/p>\n

\u201cRiver Tano at Elubo was 1,010NTU last July; today it is 834. Tano at Sefwi dropped from NTU level of 12.3 to 9.57. River Offin at Barekese fell from 41.9 to 18.2. River Bia at Dadieso saw a major reduction from 1,190 to 372. And Bamboi Black Volta moved from 52 to 4.79,\u201d Mr Gyamfi listed.<\/p>\n

According to him, these examples prove that progress is being made even if the overall challenge remains discouraging. \u201cIn many cases, it\u2019s worsened. In other places, too, it has improved. The answer is simple: you cannot fix an age-long problem in eight months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Gyamfi also criticised the previous administration, claiming it failed to show seriousness in dealing with illegal mining. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe country that was handed over to us on 7th January 2025 was a country that was not fighting galamsey at all. As a matter of fact, fighters of galamsey were being fought. Fighters of galamsey were being arrested, prosecuted and jailed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He insisted that in 2024 no real anti-galamsey operations were carried out. \u201cThe government of the day said it had lost in mining areas in 2020 because of its fight against galamsey, which was not true. They lost the 2024 elections because of their fraudulent fight against galamsey,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Gyamfi said the current government has shown clear commitment and deserves support. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur social contract with the people of Ghana is a four-year contract. Give us the opportunity to fix the problem within the four years because we have shown enough commitment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He pointed to policy changes as evidence of this commitment. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the old regime, it was lawful for people to be given licences to mine in forest reserves. Today, that policy has been cancelled. In eight months, not a single licence has been given to anybody to mine in forest reserves. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is something you fought for, and I think you should be proud that at least on that score we have achieved something,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ImprovedChief Executive Officer of GoldBod, Sammy Gyamfi, has defended the government\u2019s fight against illegal mining, saying recent water quality data shows improvements in some areas despite worsening conditions in others.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[442,8856,1883,10,9,169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-galamsey-fight","category-improved-turbidity","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-sammy-gyamfi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}