Ghana’s effort to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) is under serious threat due to the devastation caused by illegal mining. A professor of Geography at the University of Ghana, Professor Samuel Agyei-Mensah, has indicated that growing pollution of water bodies resulting from illegal mining operations are undermining efforts to manage the country’s water resources effectively.

SDG 6 is a critical part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to provide universal access to safe and affordable drinking water, improve sanitation, and protect water-related ecosystems. With key water bodies across the country being contaminated by harmful chemicals such as mercury and cyanide, he said it was unlikely the country would be able to achieve such a target by 2030. He was delivering an inaugural lecture at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in Accra yesterday on the topic “Flavours of Spatial Diversity in Drinking Water Access in Ghana.”

According to Prof. Agyei-Mensah, while Ghana successfully met the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target of providing improved water sources, such as protected wells, pipe-borne water outside dwellings and public standpipes, the SDG’s focus on safe drinking water presented a much bigger challenge. He cited the increased reliance on sachet water in many areas, particularly in mining communities, as a key indication of the country’s struggle to provide safe water.

In spite of the growing popularity of sachet water, the professor warned against over-reliance on it as a temporary solution. He also raised concerns about the widespread use of boreholes across the country, questioning the quality of water sourced from those systems.

BAR AMSA

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