The Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Stanley Martey is advocating for an intense fight against illegal mining popularly called galamsey.

The anti-galamsey fight he stated has yielded positive results hence the need to intensify the fight.

GWCL has complained that activities of galamsey affected their operations.

In an interview some few months ago, Mr. Martey said treatment plants were shut down one after the other almost every time, due to pollution, largely by the activities of illegal gold miners.

The PRO in that interview gave an overview of water bodies in the some regions that have been polluted by illegal mining activities.

But speaking in interview with Nyankonton Mu Nsem on the sidelines at the opening ceremony of the 77th Technical and Scientific Meeting here in Accra, Mr. Martey said, they have started re-opening the shutdown plants and that has contributed to more than 70 percent capacity of water.

He said, ‘’we have all witnessed how the fight against galamsey has helped us. The role of government and the media has been positive. Due to the heavy rains, we have seen more water in our water bodies. We must sustain the fight against galamsey and we must not relent in our efforts. We have seen drastic reduction in galamsey activities but we must not give up, because if we are able to eradicate galamsey, we will have access to more water into the system. Galamsey does not have any benefits rather, water is life and we must ensure we protect our water bodies.’’

He called for more investments, attitudinal change adding, if we stop galamsey, we will be able to get access to more water, process it and provide portable drinking water for Ghanaians.

Access to water, he added, stands at 87 percent and it is the hope of GWCL to hit 100 percent by 2025.

GWCL will continue to work with government in providing access to clean drinking water but emphasized the need for Ghanaians to maintain the fight against illegal mining.