On road traffic accidents, Dr Nsiah-Asare disclosed that between 20, Ghana recorded 8,716 deaths from road crashes and appealed to all stakeholders to join the campaign to promote safe driving.ĭilating the theme for the conference, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Professor Fred Binkah, called for the inclusion of Health Impact Assessment, just like Environmental Impact Assessment, before road projects were undertaken. He, therefore, called on all stakeholders, including the media and civil society organisations, academia and chiefs, to support the government’s effort in waging war against illegal mining in the country. He said Ghana could no longer continue to play the ostrich, while the problem kept escalating, and mentioned some of the negative effects as air pollution, water pollution, land degradation, respiratory tract diseases and risk-taking lifestyles, leading to increased sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.įor his part, the Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, reiterated the hazards associated with illegal mining, explaining that uncovered pits due to the activities of illegal miners had become breeding grounds for mosquitoes all over the country. “The GMA would like to reiterate that the negative health and economic implications of galamsey are real and the earlier concrete steps are developed to achieve lasting solutions, the better for Ghana as a whole,” he added.
Almost all our water bodies have been killed, together with their aquatic lives,” he bemoaned. “Galamsey is a silent killer and if care is not taken, very soon the ill effects on Ghanaians cannot be measured. He added that the involvement of well-known people and politicians made the fight against galamsey more difficult.
On illegal mining (galamsey), Dr Ankobea said it had become a difficult issue to deal with, especially so because of the huge economic gains that came to individuals who engaged in it. He commended the bold initiative by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (GARCC), led by the Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, to ban the usage of tricycles on the major highways of Accra and encouraged all other regional ministers to take a cue from that wonderful action. Dr Ankobea explained that the developing phenomenon of usage of tricycles and motorbikes for commercial activities and their disregard for road etiquette had contributed immensely to the danger on the roads and linked the phenomenon to greater mortalities when they were involved in crashes.