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Bawumia expresses concern over galamsey

The galamsey menace continues to serve as a threat to water bodies, aquatic life and agriculture in the country

 

He noted that government will deal with the menace if not Ghana may soon lose all of its water bodies.

The galamsey operation has led to an indiscriminate and rampant pollution of the country's water bodies and must be addressed head-on.

Contributing to discussions at an event on the theme: "Efficient Utilisation of Natural Resources for Sustainable Socio Economic Growth in the Country", he said the recent water crisis in the country is as a result of illegal mining.

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The galamsey menace continues to serve as a threat to water bodies, aquatic life and agriculture in the country, however several efforts by government including setting up an inter-ministerial taskforce in the previous administration proved futile.

Dr Bawumia said "The scourge of ‘galamsey’ is something that we are all witnesses to. It’s very disturbing. If you go across the country and look at what is happening to our water bodies they are essentially red in colour …Water treatment plants have been shut down in a few places because of the pollutants in the water and the impact of galamsey. This is not something that as a country we should take lightly.

"The water shortages that we are seeing across this country are very much linked to environmental degradation and the scourge of ‘galamsey’ and illegal small-scale mining in the vicinity of many water bodies in this country. We’ve been in office for about two months now and the president has requested that we come up with a policy paper. Some experts are currently working on this, specifically on galamsey.

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"It will have to take a lot of political will to deal with it, but it has to be dealt with because the damage is going to be irreparable if we leave it as it is," he added.

He stated that the government under President Nana Akufo-Addo had the political will to deal with the menace.

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