Ivorian Toxic Waste Scandal - Many Dead - Government Resigned - Risk Of Civil War

BBC: Ivorians rampage over toxic waste

15 September 2006


Youths angered by a toxic waste scandal in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan have rioted, beating up a minister and burning an official's home. Transport Minister Innocent Anaky Kobenan was dragged from his car, while the house of port director Marcel Gossio was torched, witnesses say. The two men are among those accused of responsibility for dumping the waste, which has killed seven people.

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A Seche spokesman told the AFP news agency he hoped that the sites would be declared safe within a fortnight but it would take several weeks to finish the operation. Some 26,000 Abidjan residents have sought medical treatment, complaining of symptoms such as headaches, vomiting and breathing difficulties.

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While President Gbagbo's supporters have blamed Mr Kobenan and transport ministry officials for the scandal, he has accused, among others, the director of the port, which is controlled by Mr Gbagbo's FPI party. In a speech on Thursday, the prime minister said that a judicial inquiry had been launched into who was responsible for dumping the 400 metric tons of toxic liquid, which came from a ship. Mr Banny said that eight people had been arrested and top officials such as Mr Gossio suspended from office. The prime minister also confirmed that the liquid was not radioactive and said that the city's drinking water was not contaminated.

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BBC: In pictures: Ivorian toxic waste

The government has resigned over the scandal.

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News24.com: Toxic waste death toll rises


The death toll from toxic waste dumped around Ivory Coast's commercial capital has climbed to seven, say officials as residents flood medical clinics and demand answers from the authorities.

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500-plus tons of waste were dumped on 14 open-air rubbish tips around the city.

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News24.com: MP forced to inhale toxic fumes


One witness said that the protestors pulled him out of his car, roughed him up and led him to a site, where the toxic waste was dumped "so that he could also inhale the fumes". Residents said the minister's car was burnt.

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Dutch-based multinational trading company, Trafigura, which operated the Probo Koala cargo ship, which unloaded the industrial waste residue, insisted that it acted lawfully having handed the waste over to Tommy to dispose of correctly.

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BBC: Ministers replaced in Ivory Coast


Seven people have died from the effects of the waste, and more than 30,000 have sought hospital treatment.

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BakuTODAY.net: Estonia impounds Ivory Coast waste ship after finding toxic residue

27/09/2006


Estonia has immobilised the ship at the heart of an environmental scandal in Ivory Coast and launched a criminal investigation after finding toxic waste on board, prosecutors said.

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"The results of the analyses show similarities between the waste on board the Probo Koala in Estonia and the waste delivered by the Probo Koala to Ivory Coast, which caused mass poisoning there," Seeman said.

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A local company charged with disposing of the waste dumped it on open-air rubbish tips in the commercial capital Abidjan, a city of four million people, sparking an environmental catastrophe which has claimed eight lives, seen 69 people hospitalised and triggered 80,000 calls to doctors for medical help.

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News24.com: Toxic waste: Officials blamed

23/11/2006


A chain of administrative failures and negligence in Ivory Coast led to the dumping of toxic waste in the economic capital Abidjan, which killed 10 people and made thousands ill, said a government inquiry.

Fatou Diakite, head of a national inquiry commission appointed by prime minister Charles Konan Banny, said negligence by the port and customs authorities, city administrators and government ministries enabled the disaster to happen. "Problems linked to lack of rigorous management, failure to observe professional ethics and non-application of regulations ... favoured the entry and dumping of toxic waste in the District of Abidjan," Diakite said in extracts of the report published on Thursday by state media.

The report singled out as "the main actor" in the scandal Salomon Ugborugbo, the Nigerian manager of the Tommy company, which was contracted by Trafigura to dispose of the waste. The waste disposal company was set up just before the Probo Koala tanker docked in Abidjan. The inquiry said Tommy was not equipped to treat the waste and said its ability to obtain permits to operate from the transport ministry and port pointed to "fraudulent collusion".

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