The Eastern Regional Water Quality Assurance Manager of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Moses Paintsil, has released alarming data on the amount of money his outfit spends on treating water in parts of the country, especially the Ashanti region.

Majority of the country’s water bodies have been destroyed by the activities of illegal mining, otherwise known as ‘galamsey’.

He cited that cost involved in treating water plants in Konongo in the Ashanti Region has shot up, disclosing that the water company now pays 10 times more to purchase chemicals to treat water for residents in the area.

Mr. Paintsil explained that GWCL has to cough up GH¢79,540 monthly, just to clean water for residents living around Konongo and its environs, as against GH¢8,000 spent in 2016.

He added that GWCL in 2016 spent GH¢29,785 to treat water in Odaso, also in the Ashanti region, but currently spends GH¢89,598.

Speaking during Citi TV’s Galamsey Dialogue dubbed “Galamsey and Ghana’s Water Security,” Mr. Paintsil said, “in Sekyere Hemang in the Central Region, we are using about GH¢93,150 on a monthly basis just to treat the water. In 2016, we were using about GH¢60,750. In the Ashanti Region, a place like Konongo, we were using about GH¢8,000 a month to buy treatment chemicals to treat the water in 2016, but now we are doing GH¢79,540gh, which is ten times the cost. In 2016, we were using GH¢29,785, but now in 2022 we are using GH¢89,598 in Odaso, also in the Ashanti Region,” he lamented.

The water supply official stressed that the Birim river in the Eastern Region is also grossly polluted by the activities of illegal mining.

The event was broadcast live on Citi FM and Citi TV today, November 3, 2022.

Ghana’s fight against illegal mining seems to have hit a snag after some initial successes following the Citi FM/Citi TV-led campaign in 2017.