Pollution of waterways in Siguiri: another press release or a real start from the authorities?

After pollution of waterways in the Siguiri prefecture was noted, a joint press release n°001/MEDD/MMG/2025 was signed on July 13, 2025 by the Ministries of Environment and Sustainable Development and that of Mines and Geology.

This press release sounds like yet another alarm bell in the face of a scourge well known to all and which continues: the accelerated environmental degradation linked to mining in the Siguiri prefecture, but also in the Boké region. Between damning findings, calls for order and promises of firmness, this document reflects real concern on the part of the authorities. For environmental defense organizations, it even constituted an admission of powerlessness.

Deterioration already well advanced

According to the terms of the press release, the joint mission which stayed from June 10 to 23 in the prefecture of Siguiri highlighted a “state of advanced environmental degradation”, particularly by the pollution of waterways due to illegal mining practices. This situation, denounced for years by local populations, environmental NGOs and even certain media, is not new. And yet, corrective measures are slow to produce visible results.

Measures announced… once again

Faced with this situation, the government announces the systematic seizure of equipment used illegally, legal proceedings against those responsible for unauthorized exploitation, and the ban on future authorizations for offenders. Measures that are certainly necessary, but which are not new.

The real question is, will they actually be enforced? And above all, why were they not implemented sooner?

This press release also highlights a chronic lack of control and monitoring on the ground. How can we explain that unauthorized operations, sometimes mechanized, can continue to operate without being disturbed for months, even years? The answer often lies in the weakness of the resources allocated to environmental administration, but also in the passive or active complicity of certain local or national officials.

While the authorities publish texts and organize missions, local communities pay a high price. Water unfit for consumption, sterilized agricultural land, diseases linked to pollution, these are enormous social and health impacts for local populations.

So that this press release is not just another document in the archives of the Republic, concrete actions are needed. This requires effective sanctions against illegal operators, transparency on the results of inspections, the involvement of populations in environmental monitoring, and above all, a firm political will to break with complicity and inaction.

The situation in Siguiri is a brutal reveal of the weakness of environmental governance which must go beyond reforestation campaigns.

Alpha Oumar Bagou Barry