The Paediatric Society of Ghana has warned that the country is on the edge of a water importing catastrophe if the illegal mining activities, known as galamsey, are not quickly curtailed.
The Society’s President, Dr. Hilda Manteebea Boye, emphasised the catastrophic effects of galamsey on Ghana’s water supplies and health in an interview with Channel One TV’s Point of View.
Dr. Boye voiced worries about the effects of inaction, pointing to the startling increase in paediatric kidney failures and illnesses brought on by pollution from galamsey activities.
She underlined that food contamination and the devastation of water sources represent serious threats to the health and wellbeing of Ghanaian communities and children.
The Paediatric Society is urging all parties involved—politicians in particular—to band together and act quickly to stop the galamsey threat.
Dr. Boye emphasised that if the issue is not resolved quickly, Ghana would have to import water, stressing that the nation’s future depends on it.
“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.”
