By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, Mar 08, GNA – WaterAid Ghana, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) focused organisation has urged the government of Ghana to expedite actions in the fight against illegal mining popularly known as ‘galamsey’ to save the country water resources.
Mr Ibrahim Musah, Head of Strategy, Policy and Campaigns, WaterAid Ghana, who made the call, stressed that illegal mining was existential threat, posing significant challenges to water bodies and resources, the environment and human existence.
“Those involved in illegal mining are mass murderers and the state should not hesitate to prosecute these people,” Mr Musah said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the dissemination of findings of a study on “Climate Vulnerability and Resilience Assessments,” held in Bolgatanga.
Mr Musah lamented the dire state of Ghana’s water bodies across the country due to illegal mining, compelling the government through its agencies to spend huge sums of money to treat the water before being supplied to Ghanaians at high cost.
“If you go to Central, Western, Eastern, Ashanti, most of the Ghana Water Limited treatment plants are under attack by the remnants of illegal mining,” he said.
The Head of Strategy, Policy and Campaigns stressed that his outfit like other like-minded institutions were not against responsible, legal, and regulated mining in the country, however, “it is an affront to state security to allow illegal mining to be polluting water bodies.”
Mr Musah explained that the country could not afford to lose its water bodies to such illegal activities, adding “when water bodies are polluted, we cannot do anything but perish.
“Again, when water becomes expensive, marginalised and vulnerable communities will not survive, so illegal mining is an existential threat.”
Mr Musah acknowledged the plans announced by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology to deal with the illegal mining menace, adding that the plans needed to be expedited and translated into actions.
“I want to use this opportunity to congratulate the two ministers (Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah – Lands and Natural Resources and Dr Ibrahim Murtala, Environment, Science and Technology) for the frontal attack on the issue but also call on the national security to support them with the required apparatus to nip illegal mining in the bud”, he added.
The findings of the research which covered Kassena-Nankana Municipal, Bongo, Bawku West, Kassena-Nankana West and Nabdam Districts in the Upper East Region, revealed that climate change was significantly reducing surface water and underground water recharge.
It attributed the phenomenon to rising temperatures, harsh weather conditions and erratic rainfall, causing prolonged drought and flooding, posing serious water crisis to many communities, compelling some residents to increasingly rely on unsafe water sources, compete for limited safe water sources, leading to conflicts.
The study further showed that the impact of climate change had also led to low crop yields, reduced water availability for livestock, damage to water systems and infrastructure and sanitation facilities, leading to waterborne diseases, among others.
The study formed part of the Securing Water Access Project (SWAP), being implemented by WaterAid Ghana with funding support from the AB InBev Foundation as part of strategies to strengthen climate resilient WASH systems and increase access to safe water to underserved communities.
It also aims to meet the one of the three main goals of the five-year WaterAid Ghana country strategic plan (2023-2028), which focused on working with local level stakeholders to strengthen resilience of communities amid climate change impact.
Mr Mark Akubire, Upper East Regional President of the Federation of Persons with Disability, noted that women, children, and persons with disability were the most affected by the impact of climate change and called for strategic integration of climate efforts in both national and local policies to enhance adaptation and mitigation.
GNA
FAA/KOA