The Chronicle of Sudan, NCP, Mercury, Gold & Terminal Illness
By Osama Mahmoud
Sudan under the ruling of the notorious thugs and criminals of the Khartoum regime has suffered a series of catastrophic events, the latest been the shear rise in cases of terminal cancer and kindly failure in the northern part of Sudan (the surround desert of Abu Hamad) and the western part as well (Kassab, northern Darfur).
Deep in the wildness of these desert and poor savanna, lie a huge raw minds of gold and other precious metals which are yet to be explored/ exploited by Ministry of Mining (MofM).
Approaching such hostile raw lands of such tough and unforgiving climates requires a huge effort to lure foreign investors and corporations. More importantly the current security situation does not make the prospect of mining very appealing to the outsider.
All of the the above have resulted in the MofM to opt for an easy way and cut corners rather than liaising with other government departments to address the security and human rights problems which caused the foreign investors to be wary of involving projects.
There solution was to exploit the current economic situation and lure ordinary persons, most of whom lack awareness of the dangers surrounding the mining mission.
The cunning plans involve Khartoum regime clique personals disguise as merchants. They meet their potential victims whom suffers from poverty, like many in the country; then the victims are given a brief induction to their new role (minimum training are given on the usage of metal detectors and the MIGHTY mercury – chemical simple Hg). No health and safety info are taught on handling the toxic chemical (Hg). Furthermore, the victims take water, food, mercury and the metal detector and straight into the wildness of the desert and poor savanna. They are dropped in group of two in different area.
The lucky ones come across the raw metals, they have to make sure that it is gold and not other cheap metal. That’s where the MIGHTY mercury comes handy, literally. The metal piece is washed directly with Hg without the use of personal protective equipment such as gloves, mask, etc… the mercury is used during the purification step of the raw material, and as a result the toxic mercury vapours is inhaled by the miners. In addition the raw metal is washed by water from the same bottle which is used for drinking water! A recipe for disaster. These mining areas are protected by NCP militias to prevent anyone from escaping with the treasures (blood gold).
A sharp rise in kidney failure and cancer cases are reported on monthly basis. Unfortunately it will be hard to get the exact figures as the office of Census & Statistics and related governmental departments are corrupt organisations because of the National Congress Party (NCP) input – i.e. sacking experts and replacing them with incompetents and a punch of know it all people.
However, justice will prevail, eventually.