Letters to the Editor: Influx of fortune seekers in Somaliland – While gold has been exported from Somaliland for many years, the recent upsurge in gold digging has led to the uprooting of its centuries-old frankincense and myrrh trees, thus endangering them
Gold rush
Sir — Human greed knows no bounds. The recent influx of fortune seekers in Somaliland is proof.
While gold has been exported from Somaliland for many years, the recent upsurge in gold digging has led to the uprooting of its centuries-old frankincense and myrrh trees, thus endangering them.
This has greatly disrupted the perfume trade in a country already mired in conflict. Interestingly, the Biblical Magi had gifted these three elements to the newborn Jesus.
Out of these, frankincense and myrrh are essentially healing oils. One wonders, then, whether the ‘gold’ gifted by the Magi to Jesus was something else?
Monami Ray, Calcutta
