Assessment of Institutional Arrangements for Safeguarding the Environment Against the Impact of Mining Operations in Ghana: Case Study: Obuasi

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2013-09-29
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Complaints about the activities of mining operators (both small scale and large scale) in the mining town of Obuasi, the largest mining town in Ghana, have intensified in recent times. In some cases, such discontent has found expression in physical violence. The study examined the institutional measures in place to safeguard the environment against the effects of mining operations in the Ghana, using Obuasi as the study case. The study revealed that literature on potential pollution in Obuasi and laboratory analysis of samples taken from some drinking water sources in some affected areas suggested that there has been some pollution of drinking water sources in the Obuasi area. The study revealed pollution of drinking water sources in the Obuasi area based on available literature and laboratory analysis of samples taken from some drinking water sources in Obuasi. The study also revealed that the environmental policies, legislations and procedures (as institutional arrangements) are adequate for safeguarding the environment against the effects of mining, but the performance of implementation agencies for the same purpose has fallen below expectation. Furthermore, even though the national Environmental Action Plan of 1991 had a ten year implementation period and therefore expired in the year 2000, with regard to the implementation of the strategies for safeguarding the environment against the effects of mining, implementation of the plan has been a problem. The problem has not been the inability to formulate the right policies, rules and the relevant laws for the purpose, but instead, the problem has been the inability to implement plans made. It is to help address these lapses that recommendations have been made for some things to be done in respect of the Environmental Protection Agency, District Environmental Management Committee of the Obuasi Municipality, the Small Scale Mining Centre in Dunkwa, and the Water Research Institute.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation), September-2013
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