Firefighting officials have bemoaned that illicit mining, or galamsey as it is known locally, has recently claimed the lives of certain firefighting operations around the nation.
They claim that the effects of galamsey have expanded beyond only poisoning water sources and bodies of water and are now having an effect on the availability of water in sufficient quantities for fire situations.
For instance, the Western Regional Fire Command claims that low pressure in the water service lines leading to its hydrants or sources of replenishment is endangering its ability to provide fire service.
It said that this had resulted from illegal mining activities and issued a stern warning that if Galamsey was not halted or addressed as a national emergency, firefighting efforts would suffer severely.
According to the Fire Command, the locations where emergency situations gather raw river water are quite muddy and have a bad taste.
a high turbidity level that, in an emergency, might endanger life, property, and firefighting efforts.
It said that because of ongoing illicit mining activities, the Fire Service remained the institution most negatively impacted.
"In the Western Region, we have the Pra, Ankobrah, and Tano rivers and other tributaries that make it easy for us to source water to save situations, but the problem right now is that Galamsey is making it impossible for us," stated the regional fire commander, Fredrick Ohemeng.
Mr. Ohemeng said the service depends on Ghana Water Company sources and raw water bodies in non-urban regions for replenishment to carry out its activities during an interview with the media in Takoradi following this year's Fire Week Celebration.
"At the moment, we are unsure due to the high silt content and low turbidity." "Due to the insufficient water at Ghana Water Company's intake point, the pressure is low even in the cities where we have sites of collection," he claimed.
The Ghana National Fire Service established the Fire Week Celebration as an annual event to raise public awareness of fire concerns and safety measures to lower the likelihood of fire tragedies.
gruesome conversation
One of the main topics during the two-day national forum that the Graphic Communications Group Limited is organizing in Accra will be the effects of galamsey on firefighting operations.
In fact, decision-makers, specialists, and other industry participants will assemble in Accra on Thursday.
and Friday for the discussion, which aims to support the responsible use of the nation's natural resources.
It is being hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to examine solutions to problems facing the forestry, mining, and land sectors in order to ensure the best use of such resources.
The conversation, titled "Harnessing our natural resources responsibly for our sustainable collective good," will also examine cutting-edge strategies for preventing environmental deterioration.
The conversation is taking place as the government puts in place a series of actions to help deal with overspending in the forestry, mining, and land sectors.
For instance, despite the fact that Ghana's economy continues to be largely supported by the mining industry, which makes a considerable contribution to GDP, the achievements are nevertheless being undermined by the illegal miners' actions, which remain an albatross.
Since then, the government has carried out a number of interventions, including a near two-year ban on all types of small-scale mining, the deployment of military operations like Operation Vanguard and Operation Halt, the revision of the mining laws, the introduction of community mining schemes (CMS), and the use of speed boats to monitor illegal mining activities on river bodies.
Wildfires, expansionist agribusiness, illicit logging, illegal mining, and other issues in the forest subsector all contribute to deforestation and forest degradation.
In a recent study on the condition of the country's forests, the Forestry Commission found that unlawful mining had devastated 4,726 hectares of the country's forest reserves.
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