Online Reporter
Stephen Mpofu
FOR reasons that are not yet fully understood, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Wildlife may have stumbled upon what could prove to be a Pandora’s box of underground water pollution linked to mining activities in Zimbabwe. If that is indeed the case, the committee now has a duty to widen its investigations to mining areas across the country and establish whether communities drawing water from rivers near mining operations are unknowingly exposing themselves to serious health risks.
That is the pressing question that now demands urgent and thorough answers following evidence gathered by the committee indicating that water from the Deka River has been contaminated by pollution arising from acid mine drainage from abandoned underground mining operations, industrial effluent and runoff from coal-mining activities.
While much remains uncertain, it is possible that those who once operated underground mines near the Deka River may have been searching for valuable minerals but left behind a legacy far more dangerous than they could have imagined. The environmental consequences of abandoned mining works can remain hidden for years before their effects begin to surface.
Equally worrying is the possibility that this problem may not be confined to Deka alone. Zimbabwe’s gold rush has seen thousands of illegal miners descend on rivers and streams across the country in search of the precious metal. In their determination to find gold, many have damaged riverbanks and ecosystems. Yet the greater danger may be one that cannot easily be seen.
For all that is presently known, some of these miners may have unknowingly exposed underground minerals and compounds that contaminate water sources. In their search for gold, they may have inadvertently created conditions that threaten not only their own health but also that of communities and wildlife that depend on those rivers. Contaminated fish, polluted water and damaged ecosystems could become a silent threat long before their full impact is recognised.
Zimbabwe is richly endowed with mineral resources. For generations, the country’s mineral wealth attracted foreign interests from distant lands, many of whom extracted vast resources while local communities often saw little benefit from what lay beneath their feet.
It is for that reason that abandoned coal workings may not be the only source of concern identified by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee. There is now a compelling case for authorities to conduct a broader assessment of both active and abandoned mining operations to ensure that none pose a danger to water sources relied upon by people, livestock and wildlife.
Many Zimbabweans probably believe that authorities crack down on illegal gold panning largely to prevent environmental degradation such as riverbank destruction and the siltation of rivers caused by mining activities. While those concerns remain valid, the emerging threat of possible underground pollution suggests that the issue could be far more serious than previously thought.
While this pen is on the subject of public welfare, there also appears to be an urgent need for health authorities to ensure that rural clinics and health facilities at growth points are consistently stocked with essential medicines and medical supplies for the communities they serve.
The current cold spell affecting much of the country has, for example, left villagers in the Ngungumbane area of Mberengwa District, in Midlands South, and surrounding communities battling influenza and seeking relief, in the words of one villager, “on lemons”.
One villager claimed that workers at the Ngungumbane Growth Point clinic were simply issuing prescriptions and advising patients to search for medication elsewhere because the facility had no medicines available.
The result is that a sick person is forced to spend about US$14 travelling to Zvishavane and back to collect prescribed medication, or roughly US$10 travelling to and from Neshuro Growth Point in search of treatment.
By the time of going to press yesterday, it had not been possible to establish from the Ministry of Health why rural clinics such as the one at Ngungumbane are not consistently supplied with medicines. Yet such facilities exist precisely because many rural residents do not have the resources available to urban dwellers to travel long distances in search of healthcare.
In the same way that contaminated water poses a potential threat to public health, the absence of basic medicines at rural clinics places already vulnerable communities at even greater risk. Both issues deserve urgent attention before preventable hardships become avoidable tragedies.
