Residents of Asamang Tamfoe faces 'life threatening' water challenge

Many water bodies in the Eastern part of Ghana have been contaminated beyond human usage, as the fight against galamsey fall flat.

Residents of Asamang Tamfoe, a town in the Atiwa West District of the Eastern Region have revealed that the galamsey and surface mining is destroying almost all water bodies in the District leading to sachet water dependency by residents for their day to day activities.

A hunter who spoke to William Ofori Akwaboa at Asamang Tamfoe narrated that "previously, I used to drink from a stream whenever I go for hunting at night, but currently, I go for hunting with a sachet of water at night in Asamang Tamfoe and its environs, as all water bodies in the area have been dried up and the remaining streams are stagnant with colourless and odourless, beyond human consumption, he stressed".

He narrated that it is dangerous for animals in the bush to survive as water bodies are now unsafe for animal usage, but argued, that whoever eats the meat of a toxic animal might also consume the toxic chemicals in it.

According to Yaw Obeng, the hunter and a resident of Asamang Tamfoe, that the small villages in the area currently tour for water to cook and bath. Agya Obeng reiterated, that hunting has become so difficult to the extent that the animals have travelled far food due to the unavailability of clean water to feed on. He informed that residents with financial constraints settle on the toxic stagnant waters for their living.

He fumed that it takes matured amongst to walk for over 2 kilometres to get good water to drink if you cannot afford the cost of sachet water, therefore, government must come to their aid by ending the menace to save lives.

William Ofori Akwaboa Eastern Regional Correspondent