Miners ignore safety guidelines
Gold miners in Kitumbi Sub-county in Mubende District. Miners in Kassanda and neighbouring districts continue to use mercury despite their knowledge about the health hazards and the new law that restricts mercury use. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Mercury emissions from mining activities are said to lead to physical and mental disabilities in children.
Artisanal and Small Scale Miners at the gold mines in Kassanda District have disregarded safety guidelines following the ban on the use of mercury in operations over health related hazards.
In October 2022, President Museveni assented to the law under the Mining and Mineral Act, 2022, that bans the use of mercury.
The law sets a fine of five thousand currency points, which is an equivalent of Shs100 million, or imprisonment of three years or both.
However, miners in Kassanda continue to use mercury despite their knowledge about the health hazards and the new law that restricts mercury use.
Mr Vincent Ssendijja, a resident of Lugongwe and a miner in Kassanda, said they are aware of the health hazards after sensitisation but have no cheaper option.
Mr Ssendijja maintained that several of their colleagues got a chance to attend some lessons about the new methods of processing gold without using mercury but only a few practised what they learnt.
Three months ago, a kilogramme of mercury was being sold for between Shs500,000 and Shs700,000, but now costs between Shs1m and Shs1.5m.
“This is an indicator that the prices of mercury are getting higher and an attraction to the miners to use cheaper methods. There is a need for the government to have mass sensitisation and training of the miners on the use of other mining methods,” Mr Ssendijja reveals.
Ms Flavia Nampeera, the Kassanda District vice chairperson, revealed that 98 percent of the gold miners in Kassanda use mercury . Studies also show that mercury could be a contributory factor to the poor health conditions among the miners.
“It’s unfortunate that most of the people with small processing centres are women. About 70 percent of people at the gold processing centres process gold with the help of basins and this is very dangerous because they directly inhale the toxic substances,” she said.
Inhaled mercury causes neurological problems, health issues and the community around the mines is likely to get affected due to mercury contamination of water and soil. Mercury emissions from mining activities are also said to lead to physical and mental disabilities in children.
Kassanda District, according to Ms Nampeera, has no capacity to construct the modern processing centres for the miners but will continue with the sensitisation about the dangers of using mercury.
“We also believe the Mineral Protection Unit may not be doing its work as required. This may sound weird but it’s the truth. Those people are protected, working on behalf of the government. They extort money from the miners,” she said.
However, Mr Richard Ssenyondo, the commandant of the Mineral Police Protection Unit, refuted the claims about extortion.
“I don’t think the allegation about extortion of the miners is true. I have severally met the Kassanda District leaders and discussed many issues regarding the miners. We recently discussed how to harmonise the issue of mining at the mines,” he said in an interview.
Background
Kassanda and Mubende districts host a large number of artisanal miners dealing in gold mining. The respective district leadership together with partners and government have engaged the miners over the dangers of using Mercury. The Mining and Mineral Act 2022 prohibits the use of the Mercury substance in mining.
