Voices were amplified about it umpteenth times for decades. The screams were loud enough from the rooftops, times without number. Videos evidenced it loud and clear.
Now the poison of illegal mining, also known as galamsey, is said to have spewed out poisonous chemicals, not only in our waters and soils but also into our cooking pots. Have the chickens come home to roost?
It has been a disturbing fortnight with damning, unpalatable research findings. Among some other foods, the nutritious, leafy green vegetable, kontomire, used in delicious specialities such as palava sauce abomu and abunu-abunu soup, has been found to contain toxins in some Galamsey areas. The poison emanates from toxins coming from mercury, lead and cyanide used in illegal mining.
Decades ago, when the ills of illegal miners came to the fore, investigative journalists wrote about them. Voices were raised condemning the unconventional methods used to explore gold with no regard for the consequences on the environment. Did we listen?
Cries
These cries were not dealt with as expected, from government after government. One woke up later to find out heavy earth-moving machines making their way into our thick forests, ostensibly to mine gold. Again, the voices rose high, and the legitimate question that stood out was why chiefs and their elders were allowing people, including foreigners, access to their land reserves.
More questions kept piling up, especially as to why earth-moving machines were being allowed in. Unfortunately, aware of the gains in the game, the galamsey operators were not perturbed. The machines kept coming in, and many young men got attracted and placed their lives at risk in the game.
Meanwhile, water bodies were seriously attacked as turbidity levels of our rivers kept rising, with crystal clear rivers changing colour. Ghana Water Company raised alarms because their sources of water for treatment and distribution to the people were being attacked and heavily threatened.
The bare facts were made available at every stage, and even threatened that the country may have to import water sooner.
Sadly, after years of toying with the selfish act of Galamsey and its consequences on the entire nation, the chickens have come home to roost. A whole nation is under siege with the impacts of illegal mining critically presenting threats to health and humanity.
The Ghana Environmental Protection Agency, for example, is said to have reported extreme arsenic pollution in the Konongo Zongo in the Ashanti Region, where illegal mining is going on mercilessly. The soil in the area has reportedly reached 40,000 per cent limit, a mark said to be too “higher than safe limit”. That is how dangerously we have got with galamsey.
Over the last couple of weeks, scientific research has been bombarding us with frightening statistics concerning the unusual rise in turbidity levels of some of our rivers, including the Ankobra, Offin, Pra, Ayensu and the Birim. In Agona Kwanyako in the Central Region, for example, one learns that the turbidity level of the Ayensu River that serves the community has gone from 14,000 per cent to 94,000 per cent.
Painstaking problems
With the release of poisonous heavy metals into the environment as a result of galamsey, therefore, experts have painstakingly presented the problems that currently confront the nation. First and foremost, our contaminated rivers and soil have been so badly compromised that food crops grown in the illegal mining areas have consequently absorbed the poison in the environment.
Rivers that once produced assorted freshwater fish have been seriously poisoned. Regrettably, these contaminated foods are on sale in our markets. Toxins, no doubt, are being cooked and served in almost every home because we need to eat to satisfy our hunger and drink water to satisfy our thirst.
Now, experts are warning about the effects of the galamsey poisons on our health. The poisons in the soil and water are allegedly causing increasing kidney failures, deadly cancers, neurological disorders and birth defects. Did we have to come this far to be hit so hard?
Our actions and inactions as far as Galamsey is concerned will have dire implications on our health services, including our National Health Insurance Service. There is going to be increasing pressure on our medical staff as well as hospitals and clinics. The awaited problems are enormous
Family budgets are going to be stretched, and so are the traumas and needless pain. Children and grandchildren yet to be born stand the risk of deformity of a kind.
What is even more worrying is what balanced meals to serve to the family. Obviously, our leafy green kontomire, once touted as a super food packed with essential nutrients, may fall off family menus. Our tubers, such as cocoyam, sweet potatoes, yams and cassava said to be rich in fibre and antioxidants may become a fallout as well. One is not even sure of the fruits coming from certain parts of the country. What would be left for us to eat?
Galamsey is going to deny us our cherished foods, but for how long? Not until turbidity levels drop and our soils are confirmed safe and sound for cultivation. Have we shot ourselves in the foot?
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The writer can be contacted via email: [email protected]
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