One of the major reasons why the Akufo-Addo government has decided to fight illegal mining is the heavy pollution of our water bodies. By the grace of God, Ghana can boast of a number of rivers – Volta, Pra, Ankobra, Birim, Densu, Ayensu, Offin among others. Unfortunately, all these rivers, except Volta, have been heavily polluted by these illegal miners.
Even River Volta, which houses Ghana’s economic blood, the Akosombo Dam, has been spared this artificial disaster because there are no gold deposits along its trajectory – from Burkina Faso down to Ada – where it enters the sea.
Meanwhile, these rivers we are destroying in the name of gold are the sources of potable water supply to the majority of Ghanaians.
The people in Cape Coast, Sekondi-Takoradi and its environs depend on River Pra for the supply of potable water. River Densu also supplies water to the chunk of Accra residents, including those living in Kasoa in the Central Region. In the Ashanti Region, River Offin is their main source of water for domestic and industrial use.
It will, therefore, be a perfect statement of fact if one argues that Ghana cannot exist as a country without these rivers.
In view of this, one would have expected that the fight against illegal mining would receive massive support, especially from our traditional leaders, but this is not happening. Some of the chiefs are surprisingly trying to put impediments in the way of the government in fighting the canker – illegal mining. At a news conference held in Accra on Tuesday, this week, the Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, told a story of how a chief in the Western Region spurred on his subjects to attack 400 military personnel who had been tasked to fight illegal mining, especially along our water bodies.
Here are soldiers who are armed to the teeth, but because of the parochial interest of the said chief, he defied the odds and mobilised his people to attack them. In the olden days, our ancestors, including those of the erring chief, worshiped rivers as their gods, but today, this chief does not see anything wrong with the destruction of the rivers.
To make matters worse, Starr FM, an Accra-based radio station, is also quoting the Ankobeahen of Twifu Atti-Mokwa Traditional Area, who also doubles as the Odikro of Twifu Ntafrewaso, Nana Gyamera Akoto II, as saying that it is wrong for the government to destroy excavators.
“As a chief, I think burning down excavators which have been hugely invested in is madness and shouldn’t be encouraged in this country,” the Chief was quoted as saying, and went further to state that mining in the area had given job opportunities to most of the youth in the Central Region, and that the excavators that were burnt could have been used to reshape the deplorable roads in the country.
It is interesting that this Chief is not thinking about the dangers being posed to his subjects as a result of dangerous chemicals the illegal miners are pouring into the rivers, including Pra, which passes through his traditional area. The Chronicle is reliably informed that until illegal mining raised its ugly head, the people of Ati-Mokwa depended on River Pra as a source of drinking water.
But the story is not the same today, because the river has been so polluted that no sane person will dare drink it. The Chronicle is one hundred per cent sure that Nana Gyamera Akoto II is among the chiefs who are putting severe pressure on the government to provide potable water for them, yet does not see the need to protect Pra.
As we previously stated in this column, we fully support the destruction of the excavators on site, because the moment they are seized and kept in a safe place, financiers of the illegal business would use their influences to get them back to the bush.
The Chronicle is, therefore, calling on the government not to listen to the lamentation of any chief, because some of them may be accomplices in what is going on. The sector minister must be resolute in this fight, because it is a legacy he and his government will leave for Mother Ghana.
The post Editorial: Fight against pollution of water bodies: Gov’t should not listen to hypocritice chiefs appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS