The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has presented 11 Yamaha motorbikes to Blue Water Guards operating in the Savannah and Upper West Regions to strengthen efforts against illegal mining and related environmental crimes.
The presentation was made at a ceremony in Bole by the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and Member of Parliament for Bole-Bamboi, Yussif Sulemana, who said the motorbikes will improve mobility and response time for officers tasked with protecting rivers and other water bodies.
He noted that illegal mining activities continue to pose a serious threat to Ghana’s environment, with pollution of rivers and streams affecting access to safe drinking water and endangering public health and livelihoods in many communities.
According to him, the additional logistics form part of government’s broader plan to restore degraded water bodies and forest reserves.
“We are committed to ensuring that our water bodies become clean again and our forest reserves become green again. We inherited a very difficult situation, but the president is determined to protect these natural resources for future generations,” he stated.
Officers of the Blue Water Guards who received the motorbikes welcomed the support and pledged to use the equipment strictly for anti-illegal mining operations.
They also appealed for more logistics, including boats and life jackets, to improve safety and effectiveness during operations on rivers and other water bodies.
A representative of the Guards, Kunde Kipo, said the scale of their operations requires additional support, noting that current resources are stretched during field exercises. He urged government to continue supplying equipment to sustain the enforcement drive.