Ghanaians, especially those in the rural areas, risk developing cancer due to high levels of pollution of water bodies.
According to the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), small scale illegal mining activities have left a number of streams polluted with arsenic, a chemical which causes cancer over a period of time.
Chief Executive of CWSA, Ing Worlanyo Kwadjo Siabi, who said this noted that the situation has been exacerbated by improper disposal of waste generated by industries without treatment.
He said the arsenic chemical which the galamseyers abandon after extracting their gold is hazardous to humans especially when it goes into groundwater, noting “when someone consumes water contaminated with arsenic over a period of time, it could cause cancer.”
He was addressing journalists in Kumasi at the Agency’s 2017 Review Conference.
The five-day 2017 review conference is on the theme: Rural Water and Sanitation Services Provision: Current Role of the CWSA,GAPS and the way forward for effective and sustainability”.
Ing. Siabi said the situation is disturbing phenomenon especially so when almost all the water systems in rural areas completed have not been tested for safety several years after they were commissioned.
“The assumption that groundwater quality is stable is no longer tenable and implies that our rural communities are continuously using water supplies with uncertain quality”, he stated
“It is disturbing that is why we are meeting to deliberate on the issue and how we can help the communities to solve the problem,” he added
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