1 September 2008
Maputo — The waters of the lake behind the Chicamba dam, in the central Mozambican province of Manica, are being contaminated by the mercury used by illegal miners, reports Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
The Chicamba lake is a significant inland fishery. The tilapia fished from the lake are a major source of protein for many Manica households, and hundreds of fishermen and their families depend on sales of these fish.
When the Manica provincial governor, Mauricio Vieira, visited the Manica Centre for the Sustainable Development of Natural Resources (CDSRN), its director, Dulcinea Buquete, sounded the alarm, warning him that the use of mercury in artisanal gold mining posed a serious threat to public health.
She said that thousands of the illegal miners are operating in the regions of Penhalonga, Ndiriri, Pungoe-Sul and Munhena. Mercury is a heavy metal that is highly toxic. When used by the miners, it readily finds its way into the rivers Revue and Messica, which flow into the Chicamba lake.
Furthermore, artisanal mining is also leading to erosion and deforestation. The vegetation the miners destroy is not replaced, and nor is the topsoil.
Buquete also took the opportunity to warn of the dangers of uncontrolled bush fires. At the start of every agricultural year peasant farmers clear land by the simple expedient of setting fire to the vegetation. Last year, more than half the surface area of Manica province was affected by the fires.
Slash and burn agriculture continues despite all the exhortations from the government that it should stop. Laws on environmental crimes are weak, and the police take no measures against those who set the fires.
Vieira recognised that the behaviour of the miners was a serious problem, and advocated intervention by the relevant state bodies, including the Ministries of the Environment and of Mineral Resources, to correct the situation.
He declared that, once the environmental problems had been identified, the task of the CDSRN was not simply to lament them, but to find solutions.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
