It was in August 2006, when the toxic waste belonging to multinational oil trader, Trafigura, was dumped on the poor community of Akouedo and other sites in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Recently, local residents have told Amnesty International that they fear the long-term health impact of the illegally dumped toxic waste. The dumping caused a human and environmental disaster with over 100,000 people seeking medical assistance and substantial decontamination being required.
Seema Joshi, head of Amnesty International’s Business and Human Rights team says,
“we met people with heart-rending stories of the losses they have experienced because
of the toxic waste dumping”. Joshi goes on to say, “the community is now particularly
worried about their children who continue to suffer ongoing health issues. Eight years
on, these people still don’t know how contaminated their environment is and how dangerous
it is to live there.” Almost all of those Amnesty International spoke to say they
can still smell the toxic waste after heavy rains and complained that there has not
been an adequate clean-up operation.
Doctors in the capital, Abidjan, told Amnesty International that they are deeply concerned
with the ongoing pollution causing respiratory problems in children. They said that
the government had failed to carry out any official health study of people affected
by the toxic waste dumping.
The United Nations Environmental Programme is due to carry out an environmental audit
of the dumpsites later this year and Amnesty International is urging the Côte d’Ivoire
government to make its findings public. The audit will determine whether sites are
still contaminated and could help establish both the ongoing health implications and
the content of the toxic waste – never revealed by Trafigura.
Amnesty International has called on the government of Côte d’Ivoire to address the
community’s long-standing health concerns, to ensure a full and thorough clean-up
of all the dumpsites and to compel Trafigura to disclose the full contents of the
toxic waste.
Africa is often a dumping ground for products the West no longer needs because environmental regulations in Western countries have made the disposing of waste expensive.
e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va
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