ENGINES OF DESTRUCTION…
There is a reason I keep revisiting the menace of galamsey. It’s an issue worth circling back to because it’s one of the most dangerous, existential crisis facing our society today. ‘Citinewsroom’ reported last week about the President of the Concerned Small-Scale Miners Association refuting claims of the Eastern Regional Office of the Ghana Water Company Limited. The state-run water company is rationing water in most parts of the region. They blame this unfortunate situation on the activities of illegal miners operating on various river bodies in the region.
The assertion of the President of the small-scale miner’s association wasn’t only insensitive but also exposed the weakness of the state in dealing with the menace. How else could he feel embolden to say such words? The Ghana Water Company Limited has been complaining for years about the effects of these illegal mining activities in river bodies which push up the cost of treating the water for household use.
The activities of these illegal miners in the Birim and Densu rivers have led to the recurrent shutdown of the water treatment plants by Ghana Water Company Limited in the past couple of years. The activities of these miners pollute the water bodies, increasing their turbidity, thereby making it costly for the raw water to be treated for consumption by the water company. Alluvial mining activities also affect aquatic life because of the use of dangerous chemicals in the process. This destruction of aquatic life affects the livelihoods of people who depend on fishing in these water bodies for survival.
It is time the government goes beyond the superficial efforts in curbing this mining menace and deal decisively with the issue. We are leaving a shameful legacy for the next generation. The current state of ancient and great rivers like Pra, Birim, Densu, Ankobra should be a prick on our conscience. The solution to the menace should go beyond the occasional burning of ceased changfan machines and excavators.
The rigorous application of the law in prosecution of persons caught in the act should be swift and devoid of partisan favouritism etc. It is an open secret that those who were entrusted with the authority to deal with the menace in the past rather resorted to using the levers of the power of the state to take over the mining enclaves of the illegal miners to continue the plunder themselves. Many party activists enriched themselves in that supposed fight against galamsey. The new Minister of Mines has promised to revamp the fight against galamsey. I hope he has learnt important lessons from the coordination failures of his predecessor and truly wish him well.
Have you considered the number of single-use plastics you use in a day? I did for one Saturday morning a couple of months ago. I felt ashamed. I resolved then to reduce my reliance of single-use plastics by 70%. It has not been an easy journey but one I am proud of. I buy food a lot on the go. It has not been easy finding eateries in the city that relies solely on paper bags.
The one place I found that was using paper in its packages reverted to the use of plastic packs last week. I enquired from the manager and I was surprised to learn that the paper bags were imported. I was informed by the manager of the eatery that their shipment has delayed so for the next four weeks, I would have to use the plastic bags. I let it pass. I am not buying from them in the next four weeks.
About 2.58 million metric tonnes of raw plastics are imported into Ghana annually of which about 73 percent of this effectively ends up as waste. Have you ever wondered where the chunk of that waste ends up? The next time you are at the beach, just take a look closely at the level of plastic waste in the ocean. The reckless manner in which we throw away waste, plastic waste especially, has become the most insidious threat to the ocean.
There is no way the government can continue dithering on legislation banning the use of single-use plastics. Plastics have taken over our seas to the extent that our fisherfolks at sea are harvesting plastics instead of fishes on sea. I keep saying we are the last generation to do something substantial about the various existential crisis facing our society and the plastic menace is no different. We must put pressure on our government to ban the use of single-use plastics. It would be in our own interests.
In 2015, the government of President Mahama almost banned non-biodegradable plastics, only to reverse course after a pushback from industry. Maybe, it is time, we go back to that.