Mr President, please save our lives
As someone who has keen interest in water bodies, my obvious expectation of President Nana Akufo Addo, is what his posture will be towards the protection of fresh water bodies in Ghana. These water bodies have unfortunately been under serious threat for many years now.
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Due to the work I do, I have come face to face with the calamitous effects of galamsey on water bodies and by extension water supply in the country.
Indeed, it is no exaggeration at all for me to say that, almost all fresh water bodies in Ghana are dead. Water, it is said, is life. And if the thing which sustains our lives is dead, what is the implication for the lives it sustains?
To bring it home to you, Your Excellency, the Birim River which is one of the most polluted rivers in the country, serves as the source of raw water for four of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL)Treatment Plants in the Eastern Region, namely, Kibi, Bunso, Osino and Anyinam. Currently, the company’s operations at Anyinam and Osino have been suspended as a result of activities of galamsey operators. Their operations in Kibi also have been on and off depending on the quality of the raw water they find each morning.
At the Konongo Treatment Plant, the raw water quality parameters in December 2015 prior to the resurgence of galamsey activities were quite manageable. However, since the illegal miners started their wanton destruction of River Anunu which is the source of raw water for the plant in August 2016, the quality has deteriorated, calling for significant increase in quantity of chemicals to address the turbidity and colour values recorded.
Information available indicates that water bodies which serve as drinking water for local communities are heavily polluted as a result of illegal mining activities. The illegal miners wash the ore and discharge their waste products into the rivers. Consequently, the Birim, Offin, Ankobra, Tano, and Pra Rivers, among others, have become extremely expensive for GWCL to treat due to the poor water quality.
Mr President, to quote Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Peter Amewu, “if mining in river beds is not stopped immediately, Ghana could be importing potable water by 2025”. This means that I am not the only person who sees the looming danger which will surely happen before 2025. GWCL Abesim Water Treatment Plant in the Brong Ahafo Region was shut down on February 16, 2017 for lack of water in the Tano river basin. They just resumed production at 50 percent capacity on March 2, 2017 due to the recent rains.
All efforts made to clamp down on these illegal miners have been unsuccessful. As I write this piece, the company is going through serious challenges in getting water to treat at Daboase which supplies water to Sekondi Takoradi metropolis. The company’s pump set at Bosomase keep breaking down because they draw silt in the process of abstraction. The illegal miners brazenly carry out their activities very close to the abstraction point at Daboase.
According to information available in the media, the Pra River has become so silted that, GWCL had to spend thousands of Ghana cedis in January 2017 to dredge it at Daboase. The company announced recently that it had started rationing water in Takoradi because it had lost over sixty per cent of its production capacity.
As a result of galamsey, the company’s expenditure on water treatment chemicals has tripled. Again, about 50 per cent of the volume of raw water abstracted for treatment in some places is wasted because of its high sediment content. Not only that, since the electro-mechanical equipment draw silt in the process of abstracting water, they break down quite often or, at best, must undergo frequent maintenance regime at a very huge cost to the company.
I hear that one thing which is making it difficult for the country to fight the galamsey menace is the fact that the illegal miners are fully armed. But is this not paradoxical given the fact that Ghana is acclaimed worldwide for its peace keeping exploits? Is there any group of people in this country who have superior fire power than our security forces? If we could send troops to protect the peace in other countries, why can’t we deploy such men and women of valour to protect our water bodies?
I am indeed very excited to hear that military personnel are now permanently stationed at the Weija Treatment Plant to ward off encroachers and polluters.
My earnest appeal and prescription for this seaming albatross, therefore, Mr President, is to permanently deploy our “Better armed” security personnel to patrol all our water bodies in the country, day and night no matter the financial cost, to deal ruthlessly with all local and foreign illegal miners who choose to ply their trade in our water bodies. I do not yet know of any country on the globe where foreigners boldly enter with earth-moving equipment to destroy their water bodies with impunity while the citizens and their government look on helplessly, saying the people are armed.