The Bonsa treatment plant in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of the Western Region continues to record low water levels due to illegal mining activities on the River Bonsa.
Records in early June, indicated that the plant recorded less than one foot of water level due to high siltation caused by “galamsey” activities at the river source.
Station Manager at the plant, Paul Bawa, disclosed this here on Monday, when the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, visited the site, as part of a two-day tour to assess the water systems in the Western Region.
“At minimum, we should have two feet and maximum 12 feet, when the river swells up, but, we are recording low levels even during rainy seasons, due to high siltations, sand entering the intake point. Turbidity is high and the measurement for colour, is also in thousands,” he stressed.
Responding, Ms Dapaah reiterated that all stakeholders had a duty to safeguard Ghana’s water resources and its benefits.
She said, the war on “galamsey” should be fought on all fronts, saying that, key responsibility also rested on the communities.
Ms Dapaah told journalists that tackling the impunity in water governance should not be the burden of the government alone, and that “we don’t want the situation to escalate.”
Ms Dapaah said “We are here to inspect our water systems and what the challenges are. The main challenge is that “galamseyers” muddy the waters and frustrate the engineers and the station manager.
“But, we will encourage that our officers should engage the communities like we’ve come on this tour, to let them know that, if the situation continues, there’ll be a time that, they will have no water to drink. So, it’s about community responsibility,” she said.
The minister cautioned “People who engaged in “galamsey” on the rivers in Ghana, should stop; they should leave the rivers alone. These are rivers that were left by our forebears for us to take charge of and also relinquish when we go to the next generation.
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, BONSA
