The Chronicle: Water Resources Commission must stop the lamentations and get down to work

The Executive Secretary of the Water Resources Commission, Ben Yaw Ampomah, has revealed that importing water as a last resort due to the failure of the fight against illegal mining cannot be an option for the nation.

Speaking on Joy News’ Newsfile, he explained that importing water means the country will have to build pipelines in the neighbouring countries for the transportation of water into Ghana.

“It shouldn’t be an option, and cannot be an option. We don’t have the luxury of importing water. When we talk of importing water, it means you are constructing pipes, canals to transport the water from one country to another.

“In our case, we can only do so by constructing them from Togo, Burkina Faso or Ivory Coast. Togo does not have that luxury of abundant water to give us; neither does Burkina Faso or Ivory Coast.

We have water that flows naturally into the country, and that is our right. 30% our water come from outside,” he said.

“Bottom line, water has no substitute. We shouldn’t compromise both the quantity and quality of it no matter the activity, whether it is illegal mining or improper use of fertilisers, because if we do that we should forget about importing water”, he added.

Dr Ben Yaw Ampomah went further to explain how the turbidity level of our water bodies in the mining areas had risen after the ban on small scale mining was lifted. From his narration, the turbidity levels of the Pra, Offin, Ankobra and Bia have risen from bad to worst. The Chronicle has, on many occasions, used this column to express concern about the activities of illegal mining in the country.

It was, therefore, a wise decision taken by the government when she decided to ban the activities of small scale and illegal miners. Unfortunately, the government has succumbed to political pressure to lift the ban at the time the lives of these water bodies have not fully been restored.

Since these small scale miners and their galamsey counterparts depend on mining for survival, it is normal for them to sustain pressure on the government to lift the ban.

However, the government should have looked at the larger interest of majority of the people, who depend on these water bodies as their main source of drinking water. Illegal mining is gradually destroying the future of Ghana, and we should not sit down for this to happen.

It is now dangerous for people who stay in the Obuasi, Tarkwa, Prestea environments to drink water directly from rivers and creeks, because they have all been polluted with mercury and cyanide. But this was not the situation in the 1970s and 80s – so what has gone wrong that we failed to manage?

Water, they say, is life, and if we allow it to be destroyed by people because of their parochial interests, then we are gradually annihilating the very existence of the country called Ghana. Should we get to this level? The Chronicle does not think so, and that is why we are calling on the government to put her feet down and defeat galamsey before the latter defeats the country.

Dr Ben Yaw Ampomah’s outfit should also be putting pressure on the government to do the right thing, no matter how bad it will appear in the eyes of the people doing the wrong things.

Politicians always cringe when they hear of agitations, but the technocrats cannot fall for this, and that is why we are calling on Dr Ampomah to stop giving us the statistics, and get down to work and stop the massive attack on our water bodies.