It would have been appropriate to open the New Year with talk about issues that will make people laugh or entertain some iota of hope. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury for laughter because of things happening around us. Admittedly, it is also not the time to discuss issues that others may consider mundane. But once it is necessary, we cannot leave these issues so that they turn round to harm us before we wake up from our self-imposed slumber.
It is for this reason that sand winning has become a topic to tackle. The subject must attract the attention of everyone just as galamsey has, because if we don’t act, it might not take long for us face the consequences.
Sand mining from river and sea beds have become a problem in other parts of the world and watching a recent documentary on the issue, my immediate reaction was that this was a problem far removed from Ghana. I had to change my mind after visiting Ada over the holiday season.
The town, some 109.2 kilometres outside Accra, is becoming the playground for the rich with holiday homes on the banks of the River Volta. In addition to these homes, some entrepreneurs have set up hotels and attractions that are changing the face of Ada.
This should have been good news, because jobs are being generated for the young people in the town. Unfortunately, locals are reporting that with the spotlight on illegal miners, some of the people have sent their drilling equipment to the town to engage in sand winning from the basin of the Volta River.
Again, this should not have raised any eye-brow because the numerous buildings springing up need sand and those who are mining the sand are just doing legitimate business. But then, with reports from around the globe showing that mining sand from river and sea beds are helping to destroy the environment, it is only appropriate that we should start talking to those involved in this growing business before it is too late.
The United Nations has warned that sand, the most consumed natural resource on the planet is non-renewable and has estimated that, mining of sand and gravel may exceed 40 billion tonnes a year. The UN says due to the high demand for sand, the planet’s reserves are now being threatened: three-quarters of the world’s beaches are already in decline.
The non-governmental organisation Sandstories says that, sand is used in our daily life in numerous ways. Houses, skyscrapers, bridges, airports and side-walks are all partially comprised of sand, making it an essential requirement for the construction booms happening around the world. We cannot claim to be insulated from the increased use of sand because there is a building boom in Ghana.
In addition, road construction has increased so, we are consuming sand more than ever before. Unfortunately, we have not thought about where this sand is coming from, as we think that it is readily available. May be it is because of the fact that we think it has no value presently.
This is obvious because sand comes with dirt and not many people in high place have thought about whether at the rate at which we are using sand, it is possible to sustain its production over a period.
In addition, Sandstories says, this supposed natural resource is also the source of silicon dioxide, or silica, a mineral found in our wines, cleaning products and detergents, paper, toothpaste and an astounding variety of other products we use on a daily basis.
“It’s almost become like air – the air we breathe. We don’t think too much about it, but you can’t live without it,” says the founder of Sandstories.org, Kiran Perira. It has also been discovered that, “sand extraction has been going on round-the-clock decimating the river basin and all those who depend on its ecosystem services. Rampant legal and illegal sand mining from the river has resulted in damage to agriculture on both banks of the river as well as fishing along the river,” according to Sandstories. What we are not doing is to sit back and evaluate what harm we are doing to the environment. Typical of Ghana, we are waiting till some serious issues come up before we try to fight the mining of sand from the river beds.
Since we don’t seem to care, let it be known that from work that Sandstories has done, it is clear that the mining of sand has exacerbated inland and coastal erosion. As a result, land along the riverbanks has ‘evaporated’ and many have lost not only their property but also their means of livelihood. Clearly then, those who are not building holidays homes along the Volta in Ada will be the first to experience the loss of their properties.
If this is happening in Ada, it is possible that other towns around the country with such serene river banks, are suffering the same fate because of the need to build holiday homes and tourist attractions. But we must heed the warning that like everything, the more we mine the sand, the more we create the conditions for a devastating future.
For this reason, let it be known as Sandstories has put out, Sand is not a renewable resource. “Though it may seem hard to believe, our demand for sand far outstrips the supply,” said Sandstories. This is true because the beaches, river and sea banks may not be able to produce the sand we need in the near future and for this reason, they have warned that “indiscriminate extraction of sand has dire consequences”. We need to just sit back and imagine what we will happen if we continue to mine sand at the rate at which we are doing currently.
The truth about sand as has now been made clear is that, technically speaking, it does get renewed by nature. But only as slowly as other non-renewable resources such as petroleum. Sandstories says sand production takes “geological timescales” that is, millions and even billions of years to produce because it is formed not only from mountains and rocks through erosion but also from sea weeds, shells and the action of other living organisms.
“While nature’s factory takes millions of years, humans have become adept at using up sand in a region within decades. Many industries and products are built on the assumption that sand is an abundant (hence cheap) resource. However, we’re beginning to see reports about shortage of sand across the world,” said Sandstories.
Thus, it is no longer “what should we do?” Rather we must be taking the necessary action by restricting the river bed mining of sand immediately. We must start looking at how to construct our buildings using less sand. We need also to look at bridge construction to see how it could be done using less sand.
These are issues that should concern our research institutions so that we can be the first to find solutions to this global problem in order to make financial returns. If we don’t, others who are currently engaged in research across the globe will beat us to it and we will have to pay more for something that we should have done.
Perspectives
…With Francis Kokutse