The Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, is asking Ghanaians to stop conniving with the Chinese to destroy the country’s rivers and water bodies in the name of mining.

According to her, there’s a great deal of contradiction if the country craves for water and also look on for its rivers and water bodies to be destroyed by Ghanaians and foreigners.

Speaking after a day’s working tour to the Sekyere Hemang and the Daboase Water Treatment plants in the Western and Central Regions, the minister bemoaned the cost of treating water for consumption was rising and something urgently needed to be done.

To her, the continuous disemboweling of the content of the rivers and water bodies in the name of mining is costing government incalculable losses and might impede government’s drive to provide water for all.

“Rivers were sacred entities that people even feared to enter on certain days but now with the Chinese being supported by Ghanaians to destroy our rivers and water bodies, there is the tendency government may not be able to achieve its target of providing water for all. It’s disheartening to see people destroying our water bodies with reckless abandon,” she added. 

The Sekyere Hemang Water Treatment Plant is a treatment plant that treats and supplies water to part of the Central Region while the Daboase Water Treatment Plant treats and supplies water to the Western Region.

Both treatment plants draw their water from the Pra river but the turbidity levels of the water remain high as a result of the galamsey activities. This the minister says, is an unfortunate development that ought to be fought by all well-meaning Ghanaians.

Madam Dapaah says the galamsey menace has become more biting and this is affecting the treatment of water for consumption.

“The cost of treating water for consumption is skyrocketing and there’s the need to act to stop the illegalities in pour rivers and water bodies if we truly want water for all,” she said.

The Minister is urging Chiefs and people who live very close to the Pra and other rivers and water bodies to behave as active citizens by reporting activities of galamsey to the various assemblies for action.

“Ghana is endowed with 53.2 billion cubic meters of water but it doesn’t give us the excuse to destroy our water bodies. Are we not contradicting ourselves? Since when did we start disemboweling our rivers and water bodies?” he fumed.

The Lands and Natural resources minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor called for what he calls red lines as far as mining in rivers and the country’s forest are concerned to enable the country manage mining and its operations.

“Government is not against small scale mining, what government is against is illegal mining, especially ones that destroy our forests and water bodies. We need to clearly stick to the regulations to protect our forests and rivers, “he said.

The Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, on her part, assured the ministers, she would set up police posts where rivers and water bodies are to flush out people that would want to engage in illegalities in the rivers.

The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, called on every Ghanaian to make the fight against galamsey a priority.