The Ghana Registered Nurses And Midwives Association(GRNMA) has joined the fight against illegal mining otherwise known as galamsey.
The group’s commitment was stated in a press release issued by the Greater Accra chapter and copied to Pinknews.
Read the full statement from below:
GHANA REGISTERED NURSES AND MIDWIVES ASSOCIATION, GREATER ACCRA CHAPTER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday May 18, 2017
CONTACT
Prince Opuni Frimpong, Secretary
0249384867
Douglas Adu-Fokuo, Public Relations Officer
0545490252/0557034431
[email protected]
‘GALAMSEY’, THE ENEMY TO OUR HEALTH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Greater Accra chapter draws the attention of all illegal miners, the stakeholders and the general public on the health hazards of “galamsey” and its consequences if not curtailed.
Allowing “galamsey” to continue in this country means Ghana is not ready to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 as directed by the United Nations. It also means our leaders don’t care about the health of the innocent children and women in these “galamsey” communities.
Considering the 17 SDGs as indicated below, it will take a miracle for Ghana to attain goal 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 if “galamsey” continues. This will be very chaotic for us as a nation.
17 Sustainable Development Goals:
Goal 1
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all age
Goal 4
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal 10
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
Goal 14
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal 15
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
There is no life without water. If the water resources are contaminated with toxic contaminants like mercury and lead, so is life. Innocent Ghanaians will consume such contaminated water and suffer diseases such as diarrhea, gastroenteritis, food poisoning and the likes.
The most surprising part of this “galamsey” operation is that some leave the pits open and these pits become death traps to humans. Few months ago our colleague nurse was found dead in a galamsey pit (remained as stagnant pool) in Kutukrom in Nzima East, Axim, Western Region. We have heard of similar strange deaths in most of these “galamsey” communities.
The question that remains unanswered is “if we get all the minerals (gold) through ‘galamsey’ and we have destroyed all the farm lands and water bodies, would we eat the gold as our food? or we will swallow it as our water?
As nurses and midwives, we are advocates for patients and all potential patients, hence the need to join stakeholders to end “galamsey” in the country. We plead all illegal miners to surrender in order to save lives of the young children and mothers. With this, our health as a nation will be secured and attainment of the SDGs by 2030 will be highly possible.
We hereby invite the general public, especially nurses and midwives in the region to join our event at Korle-Bu tomorrow as we launch a campaign against “galamsey”. #Stopgalamseyloveghana
-signed-
Prince Opuni Frimpong
Secretary