The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has shut down five Chinese owned warehouses at Anwia Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region for allegedly fabricating and storing “changfan” machines and other equipment used in illegal mining activities.
Led by the EPA’s Chief Executive Officer, Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse, the enforcement team discovered hundreds of changfan machines and components inside the warehouses, which had been registered under the guise of spare parts storage facilities.
The action follows the EPA’s recent nationwide directive banning the importation, fabrication, sale, and use of changfan machines due to their severe environmental impact.
According to the Agency, the operations of the warehouses violated the Environmental Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1124), and the Environmental Protection (Environmental Assessment) Regulations, 2025 (L.I. 2504), as the activities were conducted without the necessary environmental permits.
Professor Klutse explained that the move forms part of the EPA’s broader strategy to combat illegal mining and mitigate its destructive effects on water bodies, forests, and farmlands across the country. She added that similar enforcement exercises will be carried out in other regions affected by galamsey.
She cautioned that any individual or entity found violating the EPA’s directive on changfan production will face prosecution.
