The Paediatric Society of Ghana has issued a stark warning that the country could soon face a water importation crisis if illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, is not urgently addressed.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Point of View, the Society’s President, Dr. Hilda Manteebea Boye, shed light on the severe consequences of galamsey on Ghana’s health and water resources.
She expressed grave concerns over the rise in kidney diseases and failures among children, which she attributed to the pollution caused by these illegal mining activities.
Dr. Boye highlighted how the destruction of water bodies and the contamination of food sources are putting the health and lives of Ghana’s children and communities at risk. She called on stakeholders, particularly political leaders, to unite and take immediate action to curb the galamsey menace.
She warned that if nothing is done, Ghana may face a future where it has no choice but to import water, stressing that the nation’s health and future are at stake.
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“We are seeing more new developmental problems that the children are having and indeed there are issues of kidney diseases, and kidney failures associated with the pollution. People are not getting safe food to eat, there’s destruction of the water bodies and children falling into pits.”
“We want the small-scale mining to be stopped. We want the political parties, all of them to commit to stopping this menace now because we are just afraid that in no time we may have to import water into the country.
“We are all sitting in Accra, and we are eating contaminated foods probably because food is coming all over the country and many of these areas are highly polluted.”
Source: tigpost.com