SAMUEL HENRY, a pot maker for more than 20 years in Fraser's Content, St. Catherine, one community which the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences is studying at present once used old battery shells from a nearby factory to speed up the melting process for the aluminium to make his pots.
Although he discontinued the practice 10 years ago, the lead had seeped into the soil, and is now creating health problems for the younger members of his family, he told The Gleaner.
"When the factory use to open, I use to use the battery shell to melt down the aluminium and I used to throw the lead ashes in the woodland," he said.
The woodlands close to the workshop have since become home for some of his family and people from the area where his grandchildren and others play in contaminated soil.
MONA COMMONS CLEAN-UP
The case is similar at Mona Commons St. Andrew where 45 cases have been found so far, five of whom require urgent medical attention. Four government agencies are now collaborating on a clean-up effort.
"Our aim is to ensure that the area is safe for the children to return. We are still in the preliminary stages and we are trying to identify a funding agency who can fund the clean-up," said Hydda McPherson, acting occupational health and safety specialist in the Environmental Health Unit of the Ministry of Health.
