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25-07-2023, 10:03 AM
Video at: https://sgtalk.net/Thread-Paradise-islan...#pid667980
23 Jul 2023 06:00AM
(Updated: 23 Jul 2023 11:04AM)
......
the island of Lombok has a hidden treasure. And a dark secret.
In its volcanic hills lies gold. That is why Lombok has one of the densest populations of gold miners in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest gold producer. They work in a poorly regulated, multi-billion-dollar industry fuelled by a deadly element: mercury.
The miners rely on the toxic metal — and its illegal trade — to extract gold from ore. But they are being poisoned slowly. Exposure to mercury can cause irreversible harm, even death.
And the toxin is spreading. To their families, neighbours, communities in Lombok and beyond.
......
Gold miner Faturahman, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name, has learnt of the dangers of mercury to humans. “But there’s nothing I can do,” he said. “I don’t know how to process the rocks without using mercury.”
His work has come at a great cost. A day after his son’s birth, Faturahman realised that the baby “didn’t want to suckle” and kept vomiting. “I called the doctor right away to ask for help,” he recounted.
“The doctor took a biopsy to investigate the issue. The problem was in his intestines. They weren’t functioning properly.”
Owing to his deformed intestines, the child is unable to move his bowels. Instead, the excrement must be sucked out daily through a tube.
......
local doctor Teguh, he was examining four children whose conditions worried him because of a possible common thread.
One of them was constantly drooling, which had started after the child had seizures.
Another who had started having seizures was also deaf. The child’s mother said she had been exposed to mercury even before her daughter’s birth. Her husband is a gold miner.
......
Non-governmental organisations working in and around the area have counted nearly 50 children born with neurological and physical birth defects since 2018.
Much better to read long article at:: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insi...ng-3644741
23 Jul 2023 06:00AM
(Updated: 23 Jul 2023 11:04AM)
......
the island of Lombok has a hidden treasure. And a dark secret.
In its volcanic hills lies gold. That is why Lombok has one of the densest populations of gold miners in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest gold producer. They work in a poorly regulated, multi-billion-dollar industry fuelled by a deadly element: mercury.
The miners rely on the toxic metal — and its illegal trade — to extract gold from ore. But they are being poisoned slowly. Exposure to mercury can cause irreversible harm, even death.
And the toxin is spreading. To their families, neighbours, communities in Lombok and beyond.
......
Gold miner Faturahman, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name, has learnt of the dangers of mercury to humans. “But there’s nothing I can do,” he said. “I don’t know how to process the rocks without using mercury.”
His work has come at a great cost. A day after his son’s birth, Faturahman realised that the baby “didn’t want to suckle” and kept vomiting. “I called the doctor right away to ask for help,” he recounted.
“The doctor took a biopsy to investigate the issue. The problem was in his intestines. They weren’t functioning properly.”
Owing to his deformed intestines, the child is unable to move his bowels. Instead, the excrement must be sucked out daily through a tube.
......
local doctor Teguh, he was examining four children whose conditions worried him because of a possible common thread.
One of them was constantly drooling, which had started after the child had seizures.
Another who had started having seizures was also deaf. The child’s mother said she had been exposed to mercury even before her daughter’s birth. Her husband is a gold miner.
......
Non-governmental organisations working in and around the area have counted nearly 50 children born with neurological and physical birth defects since 2018.
Much better to read long article at:: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insi...ng-3644741
