Rice farmers urge government to clamp down on galamsey

The Ohiamaadwen Rice Farmers Association in the Shama District of the Western Region has made a passionate appeal to the government to clamp down on illegal mining (galamsey) activities that is affecting the quality of water in the Whin Irrigation Dam.

According to them, the dam which was constructed for an all-year round irrigation purposes on their rice farms, was no longer serving its intended purpose due to the pollution of the Whin River by galamsey activities

Speaking to journalists at the irrigation dam site at Ohiamaadwen, Secretary to the Rice Farmers Association, Mr. Jacob Ayera,  said the farmers had stopped using water in the dam to irrigate their rice farms because it had been polluted and contaminated by toxic chemicals.

He said the dam had been closed to irrigation and farmers were now depending on rainwater which was negatively impacting their crop yield.

He said: “Before galamsey activities polluted the Whin dam, we could harvest our rice twice within a year, but now we harvest only once a year due to lack of constant irrigation on the farms.”

Mr. Ayera said farmers in the Shama District produced a chunk of rice in the Western Region on a 150-acre land by 45 farmers, however, galamsey activities were having a telling effect on their production.

The situation, he noted, had impoverished the farmers since their main source of livelihoods had been threatened.

He, therefore, appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to come to their aid and clamp down on galamsey activities in the Whin River upstream.

Madam Augustina Kpodo, a rice farmer at Ohiamaadwen, also lamented the dire consequences of galamsey activities on rice production, saying they fetched water from their homes to the farm before they could irrigate their farmlands.

She urged the government to take concrete steps to halt the galamsey menace on the Whin River.

Mr. Sopheia Addo Awal Adugwala, the President of the Peasant Farmers Association, said the government must declare a state of emergency on galamsey activities in the country, otherwise farming activities would come to a standstill and affect food production.

He, thus, urged the government to involve the Association in the taskforce to help bring all galamsey activities to a halt to ensure food security in the country.

Source: GNA

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