Governance expert and lawyer, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae says due to the rapid rise of illegal mining activities ‘galamsey’ Ghana may be forced to import water.
Galamsey activities in Ghana have left several water bodies polluted and unsafe to drink.
The imminent threat of Ghana’s water resources running dry in a few years gets scarier by the day.
Water treatment plants are being shut down one after the other almost every time, due to pollution, largely by the activities of illegal gold miners.
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Dr Osae speaking on Joy FM’s NewsFile lamented the rate at which water bodies are been destroyed.
“I’m getting disappointed. The galamsey fight is something we have to win whether you are NPP or NDC. Ghanaians must wake up and citizens must be educated and it seems we are losing it. Where it’s going very soon we will be importing water into the country.”
In the Western Region, the main water bodies that have been polluted include the River Pra, Daboase, and River Ankobra.
The main water body in the Eastern Region that has been polluted is Birim.
Last month, Operation Vanguard the anti-galamsey operation task force was ordered to withdraw from all illegal mining areas in the country.
Operation Vanguard is a Military Police Joint Task Force (JTF) set up by the President of Ghana in 2017 to combat the operation of galamsey in Ghana. Galamseyers are illegal miners and have over the years depleted Ghana’s forest cover. Their activities also pollute water bodies due to the crude and unregulated nature of the mining process.
President Akufo-Addo last year assented to an amendment to the country’s mining laws that will see convicted illegal miners facing at least 15 years in prison.
