One Priced mysteries of nature, Naa Solo, a stream believed to hold a key to opening the wombs of women who are barren is under threat as residents are increasingly turning it into a dumping site.
Aside from the enormous environmental hazards the actions of the inhabitants pose, an epidemic could break in the Bortianor community, a suburb of Accra, given that most indigenes rely on it as source of drinking water due to perennial water problem in the area.
What is worrying is that, the sacred fishes that are over centuries old and believed to possess healing powers also face extinction as the refuse dumped indiscriminately into the stream is threatening their home.
According to Solo Koimmete, the custodian of the Naa Solo, who spoke to the DAILY HERITAGE in an interview, several attempts to dissuade the residents from using the banks of the river for the dumping of garbage has been met with fierce resistance.
�Anytime I chastise them for dumping refuse along the river, they rain insults on me questioning who made me the custodian of the stream and forest,� he lamented.
�I often take the pains to desilt the river of the plastic waste but, the filth is mounting in the area and I fear it might kill the fishes,� he added.
Solo Koimmete expressed worry that the people who are supposed to protect their cultural heritage, are rather taking it for granted.
�There are women who are barren and come to offer prayers to the fish and get pregnant, but, such a wonder is being destroyed,� he observed.
�Hundreds of women across the country who have been barren for several years after marriage have given birth by simply presenting a bottle of fanta, sugar bread and coins in return for a fish in the Naa Solo stream and have gotten pregnant.� He claimed.
He appealed to the forestry commission and the appropriate authorities to intervene in the environmental abuse as its repercussions could deny future generations a rare gift of nature.
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