Hon. Frederick Korankye Calls On Wassa Amenfi Traditional Council To Support The Fight Against Cyanide
The MCE Wasa Amenfi East Municipal Assembly, Hon. Frederick Korankye has recounted how some foreigners from Togo, Burkina Faso and other nearby countries and their Ghanaian counterparts are illegally mining with deadly cyanide in Wasa Amenfi East and other parts of Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area. The use of hydrogen cyanide has a strict environmental and mostly reserved for large mining companies with strict environmental and safety protocols in their operations.
Hon. Frederick Korankye revealed this to Nananom at Wassa Amenfi Ahenfie, Wassa Akropong during Wassa Amenfi Traditional Council meeting on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
Hon. Frederick Korankye made it known to Nananom that, Hydrogen Cyanide which is also known as hydrocyanic acid or HCN, is a rapid‐acting lethal agent that inhibits aerobic respiration at the cellular level, preventing cells from utilizing oxygen. Inhalation is the most likely route of entry, causing hyperventilation initially.
HCN vapor does not cross skin. A hydrogen cyanide concentration of 300 mg/m3 in air will kill a human within about 10 minutes. Liquid HCN will penetrate skin or can be absorbed from the lungs when dispersed as an aerosol.
High concentration of HCN causes Hyperventilation, Loss of consciousness, Convulsions, Loss of corneal reflex, Sensation of the throat, constriction, and impaired vision of constriction around the head and pain may occur in the back of the neck and chest.
According to Hon. Frederick Korankye, HCN is very dangerous with unrepairable short and long-term effects on our environment and health.
He charged Nananom to help flush out all galamsayers using HCN in their operations because HCN is unstable and non‐persistent and degrades slowly in the atmosphere. It can travel long distances and mixes with water and decomposes slowly making it a threat to those near and far.
Hon. Frederick Korankye assured Nananom of Government’s readiness to collaborate with them to win the fight against cyanide usage in Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area and Ghana at large.
PTheresithe dent of WasThe Amenffeelingsi Trthe adit the Conationaluncithe l and Omembeddedanhis ene of Wassregulationsa Ais mis e,n Traditional Area, Tetrete Okuamoa Sekyim II, expressed the Traditional Council’s appreciation for the education and affirmed their commitment to collaborate with government to win the fight against the use of hydrogen cyanide in Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area and Ghana as a whole
