Story: A. Kofoya-Tetteh, Kwabeng
THE people of Kwabeng in the Eastern Region, on Thursday staged a peaceful demonstration against X’tra Gold, a gold mining company in the area, for polluting their main source of their water, the Awusu River, and its tributaries.
The demonstrators, bearing placards some of which read, “Stop polluting our water, X’tra Gold”, “Esther Dapaah, our lives are in danger” and “Stop work X’tra Gold”, paraded through the principal streets of the town before converging near the premises of the District Assembly where their leaders held a closed-door meeting with the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Kwasi Osei-Agyepong.
A spokesman of the demonstrators, Alhaji Mustapha Boateng, told the media after the demonstration that the citizens decided to demonstrate against X’tra Gold for refusing to provide boreholes for the people so that they would not rely on the Awusu River, which the company had polluted.
He said they did not intend to do any negative thing, but only to drum home the need for good drinking water for the people, since many people in the town had been infected with bilharzia and other water-borne and skin diseases because of the contaminated water they drank from the River Awusu and its tributaries through the activities of the mining company.
Mr Osei-Agyepong later told the press that the government would provide a small town water system for Kwabeng by the end of the year.
He added that a hydrological company, Hydrosearch, which had been engaged in the project, was currently doing the feasibility studies.
The DCE said the government together with the assembly would contribute 90 per cent of the cost of the project while the community contribute five per cent.
He, therefore, appealed to the demonstrators to exercise restraint to enable Hydrosearch to execute the project on time.
“The assembly is concerned about the issue and is working around the clock to provide the people with good drinking water,” Mr Osei Agyepong stated.
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