In the pursuit of gold: Should we destroy our water bodies?

I used to tell students in my Environmental Health class that ‘one day Ghana would import water’. That was in relation to the illicit and uncontrolled felling of trees in some parts of Ghana. I explained then in class that our health is intricately connected to the environment in which we live. I still remember the reaction in my class that day: total disbelief. Fast forward, ten years later and Ghana is dealing with a canker far worse: galamsey or illegal small-scale mining. Galamsey has become a menace that Ghana is grappling with, with no degree of success. I recently got to understand that galamsey is a Ghanaian colloquial term meaning ‘gather them and sell’. No activity is single-handedly destroying water bodies and the environment in Ghana than galamsey. Galamsey has become an albatross around the neck of Ghanaians.

Ghana has been blessed with many beautiful rivers. Or I should say had been blessed. Rivers such as Volta, Tano, Ankobra, Pra, Densu and Birim just to mention but a few have graciously served Ghanaians since time immemorial. These rivers play very important roles in the socio-cultural and religious lives of many people in Ghana. To many Ghanaians, these rivers are their only source of water for both drinking and other domestic purposes. Water has long been considered an elixir of life. So, it comes to me as a shock, that the nation is sitting aloof and allowing these galamseyers to destroy our water bodies. During illegal mining activities, dangerous chemicals such as mercury are released into water bodies without treatment. This has serious consequences for all the life forms in the water.

So, for instance, fish in the water takes the mercury in and return to the human beings who consume the fish. So, in reality, we are indirectly killing ourselves. This is suicidal. And nobody is sequestered from this problem. It is cyclical. In addition, galamsey activities are known to release significant quantities of mercury into the air leading to severe damage to soils, water and health concerns to humans. Inhaled mercury can lead to damage to the brain and other health complications. At such an alarming rate at which galamsey is destroying our water bodies, our rivers will soon fall into oblivion and exist only in history books. Our water bodies are no longer in pristine state. And posterity will never forgive us.

As an Environmental Parasitologist, my heart bleeds when we destroy our water bodies and the environment. I cannot wrap my mind around why people are also mining in forest reserves. A forest reserve is an area set aside by a state and protected by laws against unauthorized usage by people. The forest contains both useful flora and fauna. To put it well, the forest provides very useful ecosystem services which benefit human beings who are the same people destroying the forest. This seems paradoxical but it is the truth. The forest reserve serves to protect species – both plants and animals from extinction. The forest reserve is also a reservoir of very useful medicinal herbs – which are all being sacrificed on the altar of looking for gold. Needless to say, some of these galamsey mining areas are in cocoa plantations. The destruction of massive cocoa farms is all too apparent. Now our flora and fauna are not only contending with the issues of habitat change due to climate change but also to galamsey. Most of our emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature. As a Parasitologist, I know that anytime the habitat of an organism is disturbed, the organism will have to either adapt to the change or die. When these animals adapt, they may come in close proximity to humans in search of food and shelter and this has high likelihood of new disease ecologies. This might be an unintended consequence of this galamsey menace as large forests are destroyed and that has not received attention.

Galamsey is a systemic problem. Galamsey is not only restricted to small parts of the country but it is widespread throughout the country. Indeed, the essence of this article is to raise a strong public discourse and opinion against galamsey citing all of its harm to the environment and human health. I have decided to speak because as a sage once said ‘when good people do nothing, that is evil enough’. So, we the population are complicit in this heinous crime. On my way to Sunyani from Accra one day, I saw along the highway, galamsey equipment being openly displayed. I asked myself this question ‘hasn’t anyone seen this’? Who is going to buy these? The same equipment used in destroying our water bodies. There can be no justification for galamsey in Ghana. It still surprises me the deafening silence of authorities and leaders at all levels – political, religious and traditional.

To conclude, Albert Einstein says that insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. Ghana was named Gold Coast and rightly so because of the abundance of gold. But should we destroy our water bodies and the environment in our pursuit of gold? Steps in restoring the ecological integrity of our water bodies are very much needed and require integrated effort involving everyone. We must think outside the box. But should we trust the same people who have superintended over this mess to lead this crusade against galamsey? Again, Albert Einstein said, “the significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them”. We need a change and we need it now. It is high time we understood that galamsey threatens our very existence.

By: Henry Ofosu Addo, Ph.D.

Applied and Environmental Parasitologist

hoaddo@st.ug.edu.gh/henzorder@yahoo.com