We all go to bed and pray to God for a peaceful night, hoping to wake up to a new and a beautiful day, but not to wake up struggling for our lives in a pool of water flooded everywhere. It is very sad to wake up early in the morning to hear that, people’s houses and properties have been washed away by floods. Sometimes lives are lost. But the question is, “whose fault is it?” Is it the government, the local people, or It's God’s will? There have been cases of flooding recently in some communities (Assin Praso & Dunkwa-on-Offin) around the rivers which have been deteriorated by human activities, mainly illegal mining. These people (victims) may not have engaged in these activities before, but they are facing the consequences now. The natural course of these rivers have been diverted, the holding capacity of these rivers have been reduced due to this menace called “galamsey”. Our water bodies, vegetation and lands are being destroyed all in the name of making money. How are we going to survive if we get all the money in this world and our water bodies, lands and vegetation are destroyed? What water will our children use, and how about the future generation? Where will we get timber for our buildings? On what land are we going to cultivate crops? Can we turn the money into water, land, timber or food?
As we keep on destroying our resources, there’s one thing we should all know; that water is the most precious resource on earth after air , and it can also be the most dangerous asset ever. Water gives life and it can destroy lives depending on how we manage it. What we are experiencing now is just a sign of the worse things yet to happen as a result of the poor management of our water resources.
There have been several campaigns by media houses, private entities, government and non-governmental organizations, concerned citizens and international organizations against these galamsey activities (illegal mining) in our country but to no avail. What breaks my heart most is that, the very local communities that mostly experience the “immediate” effect are the same people who fight against the stoppage of this galamsey.
You might not be engaging in the galamsey, but you dump your waste into the river, stream or drain near your home. Please put a stop to it because you are also contributing to the reduction in the holding capacity of the river, stream or drain. No one wishes for the worse to happen, but things will get worse if we do not rise and fight against these activities.
What happened to these people could have been me or you, they are the victims today, and we might be the victims tomorrow. This is our call as the youth of this country because, we will suffer the most plus our children and the future generation. Let us rise, join hands and protect our water resources to save lives. I stand for water. What do you stand for?