TOXIC DANGER!

…As galamseyers pollute Tano River
STORY: FROM MICHAEL SARPONG MFUM, AFRISIPAKROM B/A
Illegal small-scale mining, popularly called galamsey, at Afrisipakrom and Adongo in the in the Tano North District of the Brong-Ahafo Region, is seriously polluting the Tano River, and equally affecting the operations of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) Today can report.
The polluted river has increased the cost of production at the Ghana Water Company Limited’s (GWCL) treatment plant at Abesim in the Sunyani Municipality.
According to the Regional Production Manager of the GWCL, Mr. James Rexford Fofie Adjei, the cost of production has increased because the company has to increase the quantity of the chemicals to be able treat the water to the standard they require.
“We have to increase our chemical usage in order to produce wholesome water for our customers. If this continues it would get to a time that we will shut down the plant, because it will be too expensive to treat the water,” Mr. Fofie Adjei confided in Today.
And there is already an instance of that. Mr. Fofie Adjei recalled that, “[At] Bunso in the Eastern Region, it got to a time [our company there] had to stop production because the Birim River was polluted” to a point where it was no longer cost-effective to treat the water.
We have therefore proposed the formation of a “Tano River Basin Committee… to educate communities who have access to the Tano River, to help reduce the levels of pollution,” Mr. Fofie Adjei disclosed.
Mr. Adjei however assured residents of Sunyani and its environs of providing them quality and wholesome water despite the current state of affairs regarding the quality of water in the Tano River.
Recent investigations conducted by Today reveal that the number of galamseyers has indeed increased at Afrisipakrom and so have the rate of their activities.
This paper also learnt that property owners in Afrisipakrom and Adongo are cashing in by renting out accommodation to the galamsey operators, most of whom, are non-indigenes of the community.
Some of these galamsey operators, who come from adjoining communities, such Tanoso, Techire, and Yamfo among others, and land owners have erected makeshift structures on vast plots to serve as accommodation facilities.
Today discovered that the galamsey operators have a way of hiding their modus operandi from the eyes of security agencies. In the course of their illegal activities, these galamseyers spew waste into the environment, which waste eventually end up polluting the tributaries of Tano and the river itself.
That situation has indeed discoloured the waters of the river into brownish, and environmentalists have also warned that, “If care is not taken, the river would dry up because of illegal mining.”
While lamenting, environmentalists also called out to political officials reminding them about the need to adhere to the Minerals and Mining 2006, Act 703, which states that galamsey is an “illegal activity in Ghana.”
The GWCL officials spoke of bleak days ahead, since the illegal mining activity is spreading all over at Adongo and Afrisipakrom with pro­spectors ready to lease land and landowners ready to oblige.
In the meantime, this paper gathered, the galamsey operators care less about the dangers their activities are creating for themselves, the inhabitants and on the environment.
Today also discovered that the booming galamsey activity is affecting education as a lot of teenagers of school-going age are always seen deeply involved in illegal mining at the expense of their education.
Chiefs of Yamfo, Tanoso, Afrisipakrom, Susuanso, Techire and Adrobaa, all in the Tano North District of the Brong Ahafo Region, have registered their displeasure with the galamsey activities, which have hit an all time high in their traditional areas.
They have therefore appealed to the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology; the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo; the Tano North District Assembly and the security agencies to help flush out the galamsey operators from their communities.
According to the Afrisipahene, Nana Boonin Nkrawiri IV, the galamsey operators go about their operations without regard to the harm their activities are causing to the environment.
“The Tano River is a major source of drinking water for our communities, including the Sunyani Municipality. Heavy galamsey operations are currently going on at Adongo on the Tano River and unless we do something in the shortest possible time the Tano River is going to dry completely,” Nana Nkrawiri IV observed.