Deputy Minister responsible for Food and Agriculture, John Dumelo, is allaying fears that crops harvested from farmlands heavily polluted by illegal mining activities are unsafe for consumption.
His comment comes at the heels of recent publications suggesting soils from areas reportedly engaged in illegal mining contained alarming levels of heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, and lead.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of FarmSense at the KNUST, Mr. Dumelo noted there is no cause for alarm until thorough research is conducted to establish concretely that crops from these specified communities are laced with harmful chemicals from illegal mining.
“Until we conduct research to ascertain that half of the foods [crops] coming from this area and heading to Madina, Dome, Agbogbloshie are laced with harmful chemicals, then we can make certain conclusions,” he noted.
He continued: “At this point, there shouldn’t be any fears. Until we do research to conclude that indeed this is what it is, then we take the next line of action”.
Mr. Dumelo highlighted that investigations tailored towards mapping out foods with such pollutants must be conducted immediately to alert consumers against purchasing foodstuff grown in communities found to be growing any ‘poisonous’ crops.
The deputy sector minister lauded the anti-galamsey taskforce in carrying out their mandates to ward off the illegal miners and protect the water bodies and forest covers.
He noted that while the ministry is concerned over the impacts of the illegal mining operations, his office is leaving the charge to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to fight the canker.
“We don’t want to overstep our jurisdiction. The lands ministry is dealing with it. The anti-galamsey taskforce is doing an incredible job,” he said.
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