Land Management Problems in the Mining Communities of Tarkwa, Ghana -A Look at Boundary Markers and Resurveys

Abstract

Boundary resurveys have become necessary in most mining communities of Ghana, especially, Tarkwa and its environs due to pressure and alteration in land use and land cover by mining operations. Most of the boundary markers (pillars, trees, streams, hills, valleys, footpaths, etc.) used in the past have been destroyed by mining and other associated activities. This has led to many disputes about ground boundaries and ownership of land tracts in the area. To curb the incidences of such conflicts, it has become important to have more reliable and scientific demarcations and surveys of the old boundaries and owners of land tracts in the area for registration, using modern technologies in land surveying. Equipment and methods used over a century ago to mark and describe land boundaries in the area have become obsolete now, and modern equipment and methods, while capable of measuring to very high precisions, cannot automatically give or tell the right boundaries and owners of land tracts established centuries ago. This paper examines the land boundaries situation in the study area, the impacts of mining on this, the need for boundary retracement surveys, the challenges that the rampant destruction of boundary markers in mining communities pose to such resurveys, and offers suggestions on dealing with these challenges in the management of land in the area.  It also provides helpful information to land owners, land ‘buyers’ and land surveyors on the effects of the boundary problems on land transactions, surveys and registration in mining areas.   Keywords: Surface Mining, Boundary Markers, Retracement Surveys, Land Conflicts, Management