The effects of the chemicals being used by illegal miners on both our water bodies and forest reserves are varied.
Besides the direct effects of these on the health of citizens, we stand the unfortunate chance of our cocoa exports being tagged health risks. Some of the chemicals are known to be killing cocoa trees.
Currently, tilapia harvested from active galamsey areas are said to contain some levels of mercury in their heads, a favourite chemical used by the illegal miners in their treatment of gold-bearing mud from both water bodies and forests.
It was exciting to read the well-crafted reaction of the Bishops’ Conference of the Roman Catholic Church in which they called for immediate action to arrest the appalling situation.
Known for tackling national issues without mincing words, their reactions have great impact; and so we expect that government would listen to them and act accordingly.
For a long time since the illegal mining activities or galamsey took an unprecedented dive, many have been waiting for their reaction. Now, they have spoken and we expect others who when matters had not even reached this stage took up the issue with partisan lenses to do same.
The subject is the most relevant today, and as many add their voices to it, we hope that the political optics would give way to impactful public conversation so that a way out would be found.
The matter has reached crisis stage and we cannot afford to treat it with the business as usual template, as the negative effects continue to spread across our forests and water bodies.
News about some water treatment plants being shut down is a worrying development. In the Central Region, recently the regional minister told the Ghana Water Company Limited staff not to rush into reversing their decision to shut the water treatment plant in Kwanyaku because the Ayensu River is now muddied and would need more chemicals to treat the water being sourced from it.
As the minister rightly put it, “how sure are we that the water so treated is safe for consumption?”
Water safety has never been so uncertain as the times we are in today, and this should be a matter of concern to all.
The number of renal cases even among children is alarming, and we would not be surprised about the correlation between this health challenge and the pollution of water from our water bodies through the chemical washing of gold-bearing sand.
Drone pictures of forest reserves show large patches of deforested land; the destruction of flora and fauna is glaring, the former taking many years to reach maturity destroyed by greedy persons without any thought about the repercussions of their actions. How did we get here?