By Edward Williams
Ho, Oct. 09, GNA – Mamaga Ametor Hoebuadzu II, the Paramount Queen of Alavanyo Traditional Area in the Volta region, has called for a clear and nationalistic stance on the fight against illegal mining also known as ‘galamsey’ in the country.
She said ‘galamsey’ had many sectorial effects, including health and economic impacts on the lives of citizens.
Mamaga Hoebuadzu in a release sent to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said “Polluting rivers with mining activities has devastating effects on both human health and the economy of Ghana”.
The Paramount Queen’s call comes to support the many individuals and organisations including Labour Unions demanding urgent steps to fight the menace.
Mamaga Hoebuadzu said the government must implement environmentally friendly mining practices and enforce regulations on mining waste disposal.
She said the government must also monitor water quality regularly while rehabilitating polluted rivers and surrounding ecosystems, stressing the need to educate communities on mining risks and prevention.
She called for strict adherence to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Minerals Commission guidelines to regulate mining activities.
Mamaga Hoebuadzu called for effective Water Resources Commission (WRC) and Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) programmes to be adopted for proper monitoring.
She called on all traditional authorities involved in mining and damaging the rivers to cease, to avoid further depletion of the vegetation.
“Let us educate others on the adverse effects of improper mining and advocate for policy implementation to deal with perpetrators”.
Mamaga Hoebuadzu said many health effects characterised ‘galamsey’ included waterborne diseases since in Ghana, river bodies were connected to each other.
She said citizens were at risk of cancer risk since they remained exposed to carcinogenic mining pollutants.
Mamaga Hoebuadzu said the economic effects of galamsey led to the loss of livelihood due to polluted rivers, tourism and agriculture of the local economy, high cost of water treatment and loss of biodiversity.
GNA