The Ankobra River in the Western Region, which was polluted as a result of illegal mining, has begun to run clear after the Operation Halt team stepped up its activities in the region, the Daily Graphic reported yesterday.
This, the state owned newspaper continued, comes a month into the special operation by the military task force mandated to stop all mining activities within forest reserves and in water bodies. The exercise has seen hundreds of illegal miners cleared from the Ankobra and its tributaries.
According to the report, the Western Regional General Manager of the Ghana Water Company, Mr Francis Agyei Boateng, confirmed that the situation had slightly improved since the intervention.
He is quoted as saying that the intake points at Daboase and Bosomase, in particular, had seen slight improvement in the inflow of water. He said with a sustained fight against illegal mining along the banks and in the river, the situation would improve.
“Currently, the rains have delayed; we hope the situation will get better when the rains set in – for now it is early in the day to see any significant impact. The turbidity of the water is getting better in riverine communities such as Ankobrah, Salmanso, Asanda and the tributary from Nkroful joining the main Ankobrah River. If the exercise is sustained and no one mines within those areas, there is no doubt that the water bodies will regain their quality and that will also help in the provision of potable water,” he said.
Looking at the way these water bodies were heavily polluted, nobody thought the situation will start normalising within a short time. As Mr Boateng noted, the rains have delayed this year but within a short period that the military started the exercise, the turbidity level of the water bodies have started improving. In our view, if the exercise is sustained for the next three or four months, the rivers will return to their normal status and this is good news.
The Chronicle is, therefore, reiterating its call on the government not to listen to those who are crying foul because their excavators, which they were using to cause the colossal damage to our water bodies and environment, have been burnt. Since the government has decided to destroy their illegal business, she should expert such attacks, but that should not deter her to veer off the new trajectory it is treading.
We are even happy that the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which has formed the current government, is supporting the action the military is taking against the illegal miners and those polluting our water bodies.
Many were those who thought the party would intervene and stop the current burning of the excavators, but the General Secretary of the party, Mr John Boadu, had made is clear that his administration fully supports the actions of the military.
It is the hope of The Chronicle that the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will also come out publicly to support the action of the military to have a united front in fighting against the pollution of the river bodies. Since water is life, nothing in our view should stop the stakeholders from ensuring that our water bodies are clean and safe for human consumption.
The post Editorial: River Ankobra is returning to normalcy – good news! appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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