By Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Takoradi, Dec. 20, GNA – Mr. Bright Amissah -Nyarko, the National Chairman of the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health (GCNH), has urged President-elect John Dramani Mahama to immediately place a ban on all forms of small-scale mining for a period.
That, Mr. Amissah-Nyarko said, would ensure a recovery and reclamation of forest covers and water bodies in the country.
He suggested also that the incoming government must hold a high-level political dialogue with small-scale and illegal miners to solicit ideas from them on ending the practice.
Mr. Amissah -Nyarko made the call at the opening of the 18th Annual General Meeting of (GCNH) on the theme “Reflecting on the Impact of Illegal Mining (galamsey) in Ghana-Safeguarding One health, a Call for a National Action,” in Takoradi, in the Western Region.
He further advocated appropriate and sustainable mining practice, devoid of water pollution, and free counseling and screening for children and women into galamsey in the Regions, for early detection of mercury and lead for treatment.
There should also be a creation of alternative, attractive and sustainable livelihoods and jobs for illegal miners.
Mr. Amissah- Nyarko argued that civil society organisations and stakeholders were needed to play an important role in curbing the proliferation of illegal mining activities in Ghana and alleviate its negative impacts on communities in Ghana.
He said: “Addressing Illegal mining does not only require political commitment and good will, but also stakeholders, including the civil society, non -state actors, traditional authority, the media, development partners and financiers of illegal mining activities.”
The National President noted that negative environmental impact of galamsey had become a significant threat to the nation’s ecosystem, causing a widespread destruction of natural resources, plant life, animal life, human life, and threatening the livelihood of countless communities.
A report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed that illegal mining activities had contributed to the destruction of more than 60 percent of the country’s forest with water bodies in rural and urban communities now contaminated with toxic chemicals like mercury and lead contributing to the rising of non -communicable diseases.
Also, a study conducted by the University of Ghana School of Public Health had revealed that residents in galamsey prone areas had significantly higher levels of mercury in their blood streams.
“This is no joke, because data from the Mineral Commission indicates that illegal mining is prevalent in 13 out of 16 regions in Ghana, and this is translating into risking the lives of over 75 percent of the country’ s population,” Mr. Amissah – Nyarko added.
He said, the rise in various water-borne diseases including cholera outbreak currently being experienced, would continue to be a health challenge if humans and animals had no option but settled on contaminated water for consumption.
He said: “Undoubtedly the impact of galamsey extends deeply into everyday life. Communities suffer elevated health risk from polluted water and air.
“Water sources are increasingly being contaminated, while scarcity lands of cocoa arable crops production, which are Ghana’s economic pillars are sadly declining.
“ As we begin the process of resetting the country, let’ s reset our lives by maintaining and protecting our forest and water bodies in support of our interventions for attaining a sustained one health by 2030.There’s the need to synergise efforts towards the fight against galamsey to restore the ecosystem for a convenient and sustainable One Health attainment.”
Dr. Yaw Ofori Yeboah, the Western Regional Director of Health Services, noted that illegal mining had led to the destruction of the environment, with the discharge of dangerous chemicals like cyanide and mercury into water bodies.
“This is a real threat to the survival of many Ghanaians,” the Health Director stressed.
Dr Yeboah added that scientific accounts also showed that exposure to heavy metals like mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium could cause respiratory diseases, neurological and developmental disorders and cardiovascular problems.
Dr. Nii Nortey Hanson-Nortey, a global health security expert, who chaired the forum, described galamsey as a real threat to the country and the citizenry.
GNA