The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly shut down a Chinese-owned warehouse in Anwia Nkwanta, Ashanti Region, for illegally fabricating changfan machines used in illegal mining (galamsey) operations.
The facility, operated by FEI FUCAI, was raided by EPA officials who uncovered hundreds of changfan components and other mining equipment inside the premises, which was registered only for the storage and sale of automobile spare parts.
The enforcement action comes in the wake of the government’s recent ban on the importation, use, and fabrication of changfan machines—high-pressure water pumps notorious for devastating water bodies and farmlands during illegal small-scale mining activities.
According to EPA officials, their investigations revealed the company was operating under the guise of an auto parts dealer while actively assembling the prohibited machines.
“The company has been operating under the guise of selling spare parts, but investigations revealed it was actively fabricating changfan machines,” the officer said.
“This directly contravenes the government’s directive and poses a serious environmental threat,” he added.
EPA has pledged to intensify collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, the Minerals Commission, and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining to enforce the ban and ensure accountability for offenders.
The shutdown of the illegal warehouse comes on the back of the arrest of seven Chinese illegal miners by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) at Akango in the Evalue-Gwira District in the Western Region.