Concerned group with bottled samples of the polluted water from galamsey sites
A GROUP calling itself Concerned Ghanaians yesterday stormed Parliament House in Accra to register their displeasure against the activities of illegal miners which continues to pollute water bodies in the country.
The silent demonstrators, led by Ghanaian Environmental Advocate, Francis Frempah, said the call on Ghana’s Parliament was to act fast and strengthen the laws on illegal mining as the effect of galamsey activities on water supplies kept worsening.
The group also carried along bottled samples of the polluted water from most of these galamsey-affected river bodies. The samples were presented to the security gates of Parliament as the group marched to Parliament.
The Parliamentary security authorities claimed they were not aware of such a galamsey advocacy event.
Mr. Frempah, in his interaction with the media, as a matter of urgency, called on President Akufo-Addo to halt all activities of illegal mining to safeguard the country’s water system from further pollution.
“We are calling on state actors to enforce laws regarding unregulated small-scale mining which would help improve the live-in water bodies and save the country the most cost in water treatment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has indicated that illegal mining in the country’s major rivers was dealing a hefty blow to its operations and that if the turbidity of these rivers crosses a certain thresh hold, it may have no option but to shut down.
Managing Director of GWCL, Clifford Braimah, who announced this during a dialogue with chiefs and opinion leaders in the Atiwa West District of the Eastern Region on the state of the Birim River, said the fight against galamsey was a national issue and GWCL has been hit hardest.
By Prince Fiifi Yorke