The Effects of Sand Mining on Sub-Structure of Buildings in New Juaben Municipality in the Eastern Region

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to study the effects of sand mining on sub-structure of buildings in New Juaben Municipality in the Eastern Region. The research design used for this study was a case study. The population for the study involved sand miners and chiefs of Koforidua (New Juaben Municipality). The purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 200 for the study. This was made up of 176 household respondents, 7opinion leaders, 15 informants and 2chiefs. Data collection instruments used includes questionnaire, interview and observation. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to analyse the data for the study. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20) software was used to analyse data. The study results concluded that sand mining communities are associated with destructions to the substructures of buildings, vegetation cover, creation of gullies on farmlands and other damages to the physical environment. Unfortunately, these degraded sites become unproductive because no measures are put in place to reclaim the lost lands. Consequently, several acres of lands are lost annually to the activities of sand mining in various parts of the region. All efforts must therefore be put in place by the district assemblies, in collaborations with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture; to restore the lands that are destroyed in the wake of sand mining activities. The study recommended that the Environmental Protection Agency should intensify operations to combat illegal sand mining activities in the New Juaben Municipality.