The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Fanteakwa South in the Eastern Region, Adjabeng Ntori, has fallen on prayers after the fight against illegal mining in the district collapsed.
Mr. Ntori, in responding to queries about why illegal miners have been allowed to turn the Birim and Akrasu rivers which are the sources of drinking water for the people, into a chocolaty brown mess said he is praying that the water will soon become clean on its own.
According to him, the illegal miners that they have been fighting, have changed tactics by taking to nocturnal mining, among others.
The chocolaty brown color of the two rivers, he said, are also a result of rain washing silt and clay from mine pits left behind by illegal miners, into the rivers.
“But let’s pray and see whether after some time the water will be clear for human consumption,” the Honorable DCE, Adjabeng Ntori, said.
It is not clear which God he wants the prayers to be directed to; the Christian God or the ancestors of the land who according to some high priests in the area are unhappy about what the greedy humans and their gold rush have done to their beautiful rivers.
Birim and Akrasu are the sources of drinking water for Osino, Dwinase and other adjoining communities. However, the activities of illegal miners have destroyed the color of the river.
According to the Citi News Room report, the galamseyers have also destroyed farmlands in Dwinase, Dome and Jampomani but cocoa plantations at Akyem Hemang have also been destroyed.
Some of the chiefs and residents of Dome and Jamomani, according to the report, have agreed to community mining at the expense of traditional indigenous mining, and therefore being accomplices in the environmental degradation.
Johnson Appiah, Assembly man for the area laments that it is getting worst. According to him, the cleanliness of the water used to fluctuate but for the past 3 months the river has never turned clean, always dirty.
He said they have petitioned all the necessary institutions under the government of President Akufo-Addo who has declared war on illegal mining but nothing has been done about it.
Mining pits that are left behind by the miners, have also become deadly traps for residents with a number of people drowning in them.
Kwame Kyei, a youth leader in the community accused the Police and local chiefs of being accomplices and the Akufo-Addo government of turning a blind eye.
According to him, in December, people in the community who usually vote for the NPP will not vote.