Samartex Timber And Plywood Company Reels Under Galamsey
Story By : Deborah Adorsu
Illegal mining continues to cripple the operations of Samartex Timber and Plywood Company Limited at Samreboi in the Wassa Amenfi West Municipality of the Western Region.
The company, which holds a 40-year timber license and manages several reserves including the Tano Nimri Forest Reserve, Compartment 161, Fure River Reserve and Nueng South Reserve, says its concessions have been invaded by galamsey operators.
According to the Timber and Wood Workers Union, in August 2022 alone, a group of illegal miners with six excavators and eight locally-made washing plants, guarded by heavily built men in military uniform, entered Compartment 161 of Tano Nimri and destroyed about 20 acres within five days. A field report by the Ghana Gold Board, GoldBod, later recorded 192.4 hectares of land destroyed in the reserve between 2021 and 2024.
The invasion is threatening the survival of Samartex, which employs over 2,500 workers directly, maintains over 200 kilometres of road network used by over 400,000 people, runs a fee-free NVTI-certified apprenticeship training school for engineers, provides treated water to the Samreboi community at a cost of over GH¢40,000 annually, and operates a hospital that serves about 4,000 patients monthly from over 50 communities.
The Union says the cost of water treatment has tripled due to pollution of the Tano River by illegal mining, forcing the company to sink additional boreholes.
The company has warned it may be forced to downsize or shut down, putting livelihoods of workers and their dependents at risk. Youth in Samreboi have previously blocked roads leading to the company to protest the arrest of illegal miners, underscoring tension in the area.
In response to the degradation, GoldBod is now funding a GH¢35 million reclamation and reforestation project in collaboration with the Ghana Armed Forces and the Forestry Commission.
The project is targeting 50 hectares initially out of an estimated 200 hectares of degraded land in Tano Nimri. Military engineers have so far filled 10 major mining pits and are undertaking land levelling ahead of afforestation.