The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has planted trees at the Jimi River near Obuasi to launch a major effort to reclaim lands and restore the river destroyed by illegal mining.
He visited Lot 1 of the Jimi Land Reclamation and River Watercourse Rehabilitation Project, a 153-hectare pilot under the Green Ashanti Initiative, to inspect ongoing works and symbolically plant trees to mark the restoration.
The site, which holds a major water source for the Adansi enclave, has been heavily degraded by galamsey, with vegetation stripped, soils contaminated and open pits left behind.
The pollution threatens the Jimi River and the Jimi Dam downstream, which treats water for over 200,000 people in Obuasi and the Adansi area.
At Tasliman, illegal miners have diverted the course of the river with heaps of sand, causing heavy siltation and rising turbidity.
Aside from the rising turbidity levels, which has increased the cost of water treatment, the dam’s volume is decreasing, hence resulting in rationing of water to the communities.
Director of Engineering at AngloGold Ashanti, Ing. Eric Broni, says the impact is already hitting water supply.
“There is a possibility that this year, water abstraction will decrease. When the water level drops, abstraction decreases, but our cost increases. Last year we spent about $584,000 to treat water despite treating less. It is becoming a worry because we have to ration water to other communities,” he said.
The Jimi project, led by the Ashanti Green Initiative under the leadership of Oheneba Nana Kwaku Duah, with Manhyia Palace providing vision and patronage, is piloting a six-step restoration model: backfilling pits, re-grading spoil heaps and terracing slopes, containing heavy metal contamination, installing drainage and erosion controls, restoring topsoil, and replanting with kenaf.
Kenaf, a fast-growing fibre crop for sacks, ropes and eco-composites and other uses, has been chosen over food crops due to residual contamination risk and to provide alternative livelihoods for local farmers. The Jimi River and its buffer zones will also be cleaned and replanted under EPA guidance.
The Asantehene was joined by partners, including AngloGold Ashanti, which is providing technical and operational support.
The Managing Director, Samuel Boakye Pobee, said, “We are proud to be partners in the fight against land degradation and elated by the government’s support. The Jimi remains important to Obuasi. It provides water to many people outside the mine, more than those in the mine.”
Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, disclosed that about 8,000 hectares of 188 forest reserves have been impacted by galamsey, with only 150 hectares reclaimed so far.
“Government can only succeed with partnership. 80% of water comes from forest reserves, and this goes to the core of human survival. Government is committed to this partnership. The Asantehene’s commitment is a model for all chiefs,” he said.
Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, described the project as a national crusade.
“What you are doing is the launching of a national crusade for traditional leaders to partner with civil society, mining companies and government to lead the way to restore degraded lands,” he said.
Organisers say the Green Ashanti tree planting at Jimi is more than symbolic. It marks the start of a replicable model to restore Ghana’s degraded lands, protect clean water, and restore livelihoods.
The Asantehene was briefed at AngloGold Ashanti in Obuasi before moving to Lot 1 for the tree planting and inspection of the reclamation site and later, the Jimi Dam.