Cyanide spillage has been found in two streams that serve as sources of water for peasant farmers of Teberebie in the Wassa West district.

The two streams that have been reportedly polluted by the poisonous chemical are located at the south gate of Goldfields Ghana Ltd. and behind the waste pile of AngloGold Ashanti Iduaprim Mines. This has made it difficult to determine the exact source of the pollutant.

The time of the spillage is not yet known but it is believed it occurred sometime last week. Upon reaching the scenes, The Heritage newspaper saw several dead fishes floating in the streams.

According to Paul Ayensu, a farmer and a member of the Teberebie community who first prompted the community to the cyanide spillage, he went to the stream to wash down as he usually did after work on his farm which was close to the two streams.

He said, immediately he finished, his skin started itching so he realised there was "something wrong with the stream,” because that was the first time he had had such an experience.

He said he wanted to be sure whether it was the stream he bathed in that was causing his body to itch, so he moved to the other part of the stream and there he saw dead fishes floating in the stream.
According to him, he went upstream to another rivulet, called Awonabe, to fish but could not since in it too, dead fishes were floating.

Commenting on the situation, Emelia Amoateng, leader of the Concerned Farmers of Teberebie, described the harsh conditions under which mining communities, particularly those within the Teberebie community were living. "All our water bodies: our heritage have been destroyed by these companies, and they have refused to provide us an alternative; why?" She asked.

When contacted, the acting district programmes officer for the EPA, Moses Kpebu, said a test on the water had shown that the levels of acidity in the two streams was extremely high, but he was unable to tell the cause.

According to him, until he conducted a laboratory test on both the fish and the water he would not be in a position to tell the cause of the pollution.


Source: The Heritage