Back To The Turbid Waters

The turbid state of water bodies in gold-bearing areas of the country defines unambiguously the level of pollution being exacted by illegal mining and how much officialdom in previous times remained indifferent.

No responsible government would fold its arms as our sources of water are so dismally polluted the way this sorry story is being played out in varied parts of the country.

And to think that this subject was reduced to a political shenanigan is hurtful to the conscience of well-meaning Ghanaians.

There is no gainsaying the significance of the government appointees to the rivers abused by the illegal miners otherwise called galamsey.

The ministers and others saw for themselves, some of them not the first time, the terrible state of the visited water bodies.

It is instructive that at the period of warped-up pressure on the illegality, the turbidity of the waters gave way to the glassy state they wore in previous times.

There is no iota of concern in those degrading the water bodies for the quality of this critical source of life to many of their compatriots.

For them, it is about making money for themselves; all other interests are of less or no significance. If this is not selfishness and greed, we do not know what else it is.

To think that this went on for all the past years and previous political leaderships at the helm turned their attention from it prompts questions as to why that reprehensible attitude was put up.

Leadership is about taking productive and good decisions on behalf of the people or the governed. Not doing so reduces those at the helm as a group of irresponsible dignitaries.

We cannot but doff our hats for the bold actions taken so far to deal a final blow to the act of destroying our water bodies just so a few people can access a few nuggets of gold.

A picture of River Pra when it was posted on some social media platforms was enough to draw tears from patriotic Ghanaians who appreciate the implications of not doing anything about our rivers.

Even more disturbing is the fact that some Ghanaians lead foreigners to engage in the water polluting activities.

We wish to return to our earlier presented suggestion about MMDCEs role in the fight against the destruction of our water bodies.

One of the critical determinants of appointees in areas where there are heightened galamsey activities should be their success in halting the illegality. MMDCEs in whose areas the waters remain turbid should have so much deducted from their marks.

Chiefs must be directly involved in the war against the illegality. We have learnt about far-reaching decisions taken during the recent engagement on the subject and how these are awaiting government word.

When such a word is received from government, which represents its assent to the decisions, nobody whose actions compromise the quality of our water bodies should be spared the rod.

The importation of galamsey-specific gadgets should be banned forthwith and those trading in them arrested.

We cannot continue to tread along this dangerous tangent, not when the contamination of our water bodies is on an accelerated pace.

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