Ghana is naturally blessed with many streams and rivers, which in the past produced enough potable water for the Ghana Water Company to supply several homes and industries with water after treatment.
More importantly, several thousand people who dwell in the rural areas depend solely on water from nearby rivers and streams for their daily lives and other activities.
It is equally safe to state that though water from rivers and streams are consumed without any better treatment, it did not pose any health hazard to the people because those rivers were not polluted.
However, the same cannot be told today due to the wanton activities of illegal mining, which has led to severe pollution of land and water bodies with harmful chemicals.
The turbidity level of water from these polluted water bodies have ballooned the treatment costs for the Ghana Water Company, a situation which has raised legitimate concerns about the quality of water being produced by the company for human consumption.
In view of the imminent dangers posed by illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, Ghanaians in the last few years have registered their strongest displeasure with the way the canker is being fought.
According to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, the government has placed the fight against the menace under the Military High Command.
We are told that the previous operation failed because of interference by politicians and other influential people in the country.
So, upon complaint by the Military High Command about the interference, the government resolved to give them a free hand to operate a decision which birthed the revamped Operation Halt II.
What gladdens the heart of the paper is the fact that the minister has pointed out that the Command has authority from the President to deal with matters that would arise during their operations.
The Chronicle finds this renewed spirit by the government to finally clamp down on all illegal mining activities refreshing, especially as the military high command is going to lead the fight and will be held responsible for the success or otherwise of the operation.
Ghanaians have been assured by the minister that there would be no interference whatsoever from the government, or any other personality and that the Military High Command would be solely in charge of the fight.
As a matter of fact, we view this directive as the strongest commitment by the government to end the wanton destruction of water bodies by those nation wreckers, whose activities have visited mayhem on the entire country.
We hold this view because of the fact that the Ghana Armed Forces arguably continues to be the most disciplined and revered institution with very high moral standards.
The command, we believe, would not allow indiscipline on the part of its officers to lead the charge because any disgrace from the operations would be hanged around their necks.
The Command must, therefore, work diligently to get the job excellently executed devoid of political, religious, or ethnic considerations so that they can, for once, save our water bodies from total obliteration.
Ghanaians would never trust the revered Ghana Armed Forces again should they fail the country, and we do not believe they expect that.
This is because the international community would be aware of their complicity in a fight against illegal activities that pose severe danger to the country.
If the Ghana Armed Forces wants Ghanaians to still have trust and confidence in it as the last resort when all other options have failed, then this is the time to get the job done.
