EMA in anti-mercury drive

ENVIRONMENTAL Management Agency (EMA) has embarked on a national programme to raise awareness on the effects of unsafe disposal of mercury on human and animal health.

Speaking during a press conference held at EMA provincial offices in Marondera on Wednesday, EMA’s Mashonaland East provincial publicity officer Mr Astas Mabwe said his team is targeting smallscale gold miners who release mercury into the environment after using it to separate gold from ore.

“We have embarked on a national awareness programme on the effects of mercury released into the environment. This chemical has negative effects on both human and animal health.

“So far we have held meetings with small-scale gold panners in three districts of Mashonaland East Province that is Goromonzi, Hwedza and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe. We have also met communities that were affected and we educated them on the effects of mercury if consumed,” Mr Mabwe said.

He said more than 1 800 people attended the awareness programme with small-scale gold miners showing a growing interest in safe gold extracting methods.

EMA’s environmental education and publicity officer Mr Leon Mutungamiri weighed in saying mercury has a negative effect to human beings when released into the environment.

“The effects of mercury exposure can be very severe and subtle. Most affected persons are the pregnant women and children below the age of five.

“Usually children will suffer from poor eyesight, walking and hearing difficulties even the way they talk is affected, in other words, the main effect is on the nervous system which affects the coordination of movement,” he said.

Mr Mutungamiri said they targeted small-scale gold miners because they used mercury to separate gold.

“Mercury also affects the aquatic life because it pollutes water. This chemical stays in water for a long time and it affects fish, which is consumed by human beings and that affects the whole food chain,” he said.

Mr Irvine Nyaguwa who works at EMA’s Hazardous Substances Section concurred with Mr Mutungamiri and Mr Mabwe and said mercury disposed into the environment by small-scale gold miners has serious effects on life.

He added that safe gold panning methods should be adopted by small- scale gold miners.

“Small-scale gold mining is one of the major release source of mercury in Zimbabwe. It is estimated that the sector is responsible for over 1 600 tonnes of mercury per year to the air and on the land,” he said.

He urged the Government to assist small-scale miners with machinery, which is environmentally friendly saying the sector plays a pivotal role economically.