UN warns of nuclear wastes in Somalia waters

[Sky]

By Waweru Mugo

 

Somali woman erect a shelter after they were forced to an internally displaced people’s camp in Barrdo in north east Somalia due to the severe effects of the tsunami.

 

The environmental impact of the deadly Asian Tsunami was laid bare yesterday as it emerged that it stirred up nuclear and hazardous waste deposits dumped in the Somalia coastline.

 

Fears were also expressed that the situation in the war-torn Somalia poses "a very serious environmental hazard" to the east African countries following possible contamination of the environment by radioactive waste.

 

There are worries too that the tsunami may have impacted negatively on the mangroves and coastal vegetation, coral reefs, surface and ground water, soils, marine and coastal environment.

 

In a new assessment report released yesterday, the United Nations revealed that contamination from these waste deposits has caused serious health and environmental problems to fishing communities in Somalia’s affected areas.

 

"Many people in Somalia’s impacted areas are complaining of unusual health problems including acute respiratory infections, mouth bleeds and skin conditions," the report released at the Unep’s 23rd Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum where some 100 environment ministers have gathered for their annual talks says.

 

Tsunami winds blowing inland villages has also caused other health problems like dry heavy coughing, abdominal haemorrhages, unusual skin chemical reactions, and sudden death after inhaling toxic materials, Unep added.

 

The report "After the Tsunami- Rapid Environment Assessment" said nuclear and hazardous waste had for long been dumped in beaches around North Hobyo (South Mudug) and Warsheik, south of Benadir igniting catastrophic environmental concerns following the Tsunami wave.’’

 

The report released by the Unep executive director Klaus Toepfer blamed the huge human environmental impacts to Somalia to the lack of proper central government and associated civil war.

 

From the early 1980s and continuing into the civil war, the hazardous waste dumped along Somalia’s coast comprised uranium radioactive waste, lead, cadmium, mercury, industrial, hospital, chemical, leather treatment and other toxic wastes, hesaid.

 

The report noted, "Somalia’s coastline has been used as a dumping ground for other countries’ nuclear and hazardous wastes for many years as a result of the long civil war and the consequent inability of the authorities to police shipments or handle the wastes."

 

It warns that while natural disasters are short-term catastrophes, the contamination of the environment by radioactive waste "can cause serious long-term effects on human health as well as severe impacts on groundwater, soil, agriculture and fisheries for many years".

 

"Therefore, the current situation along the Somali coastline poses a very serious environmental hazard,

 

not only in Somalia but also in the eastern Africa sub-region," the 140-page report further warns.

 

Unlike in the other six affected countries featured- Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles and Yemen, in Somalia, the report is based on desk study only, as security restrictions did not allow an assessment mission to be fielded by Unep.

 

Approximately 650 km of the Somali coastline was impacted by the tsunami, primarily in the stretch between Hafun (Bari region) and Garacad (Mudug region), with varying degrees of devastation.

 

Some 300 people died from the tsunami effects while shelters, houses and water sources as well as fishing gear were extensively destroyed in the country.

 

The livelihoods of 18,000 households were devastated, and all the people now need urgent humanitarian assistance.

 

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[xiinfaniin]

No wonder why the western world is not eager to see normalcy restored in Somalia! It has served as a dumping ground for their wastes. It offered them priceless resources to fleece. When you read heartbreaking reports such as this one you can’t help but speculate if prolonged civil war was shrewdly hatched and purposefully fueled by invisible enemy?

مصائب قوم

عند قوم Ùوائد

[Baashi]

Depressing news :mad: Waa ayaan darro!

[STOIC]

Baashi, their is a rumuor out their that the current president of Harvad When he was at the world bank he advised them to dump nuclear waste in Africa.

[J.Lee]

^^ I have heard of that rumor too, something to do with treaties he has signed, etc?? I don't know if this rumor is derived by the truth or if it is slander but it makes one quite suspicious.

 

you can’t help but speculate if prolonged civil war was shrewdly hatched and purposefully fueled by invisible enemy?

Hmmm,hatched? No but fueled.....one can't but speculate......

[Baashi]

^^Stoic, there are raving feminists out to get him and they could sure use this info to assassinate his character. I propose we should assist them and hopefully we get some exposure for this environmental catastrophe in return. What say u

 

Xiin, speculation won’t do you any good sxb. What’s been done is done. How about if you guys try to compile the names of warlords, the nations, and the companies that are said to have conspired to do this heinous crime against us.

[STOIC]

Akhi, any publicity will do for me to gain enviromental equity for somalia.

[xiinfaniin]

Baashi,I am a bit hesitant to name names, as it were, and point fingers, as I know the clannish emotions it invokes! But once and for all, I must abandon my bunker mentality and test the waters for you gave us an offer that I can't refuse!

 

Here are some individuals and entities that I have been suspicious. This list is incomplete and controversial!

 

Warlords

 

1- Cusman Caato

2- Abdullah Yusuf

3- Maxamed Dheere

4- Cali Mahdi

5- Munye Said Omar

6- Xussen Caydiid

 

 

Nations

 

1- Italy

2- France

3- America

4- Germany

5- UK

6- Russia

7- China

8- South Africa

9- Scandinavian countries

 

P.S.

Note that most of the above individuals are ironically part of the government and the countries I listed are the powerful ones!

[General Duke]

Terrible indeed, that shitt will hurt us for generations.

[Baashi]

Xiin, suspicion alone is not good enough...u kno that! What we need is some sort of evidence that is presentable to the courts. Despite the financial muscle behind these corporate giants, Aaron Brown and CBS 60 minutes magazine news will gladly grant us sympathetic ear not to mention the environmental advocacy groups such as Sierra club Go get it buddy! got me one company name that you are absolutely sure that it’d taken part of this heinous crime. Once the courts serve the subpoena the names of the warlords will be out in no time.

[Alisomali]

I also heard rumors that the harvard jerk said that it was good to dump waste in africa's coast. As a matter of fact he stated that sense Africa is the least indsutrialized continent in the world it could afford to absorb some pollution.

Anyways we should start some sort of committe to research this topic. We can really do something for our country and our people's future.

 

PS: I also heard that most of these companies outsource the dumping job to murky mob groups, especially the remenants of the Cosa Nostra, the Italian mafia. Those basterds are still out there.

[Alisomali]

Here is the memo that the current President of Harvard University wrote while he was at the world bank.

 

THE MEMO

 

DATE: December 12, 1991

TO: Distribution

FR: Lawrence H. Summers

Subject: GEP

 

"'Dirty' Industries: Just between you and me, shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs [Less Developed Countries]? I can think of three reasons:

 

1) The measurements of the costs of health impairing pollution depends on the foregone earnings from increased morbidity and mortality. From this point of view a given amount of health impairing pollution should be done in the country with the lowest cost, which will be the country with the lowest wages. I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that.

 

2) The costs of pollution are likely to be non-linear as the initial increments of pollution probably have very low cost. I've always though that under-populated countries in Africa are vastly UNDER-polluted, their air quality is probably vastly inefficiently low compared to Los Angeles or Mexico City. Only the lamentable facts that so much pollution is generated by non-tradable industries (transport, electrical generation) and that the unit transport costs of solid waste are so high prevent world welfare enhancing trade in air pollution and waste.

 

3) The demand for a clean environment for aesthetic and health reasons is likely to have very high income elasticity. The concern over an agent that causes a one in a million change in the odds of prostrate cancer is obviously going to be much higher in a country where people survive to get prostrate cancer than in a country where under 5 mortality is is 200 per thousand. Also, much of the concern over industrial atmosphere discharge is about visibility impairing particulates. These discharges may have very little direct health impact. Clearly trade in goods that embody aesthetic pollution concerns could be welfare enhancing. While production is mobile the consumption of pretty air is a non-tradable."

 

"The problem with the arguments against all of these proposals for more pollution in LDCs (intrinsic rights to certain goods, moral reasons, social concerns, lack of adequate markets, etc.) could be turned around and used more or less effectively against every Bank proposal for liberalization."

[Sky]

that son of a b!tch. just because we have low pollution we should pay for it.

 

where does he live?

[xiinfaniin]

Baashi,

That’s tough one. As you know these crimes---dumping waste and fleecing resources---are not done in the daylight! The deals to secure prompt facilitation from the concern warlords tend to get finalized in dark aisles of the evil world! To unearth the evidence that’s required to secure guilty verdict is a challenging task to say the least. It’s, however, a story worthy of news and it can easily win primetime airing of 60 Minute and other popular news programs!

 

Alisomlai,

Very interesting Memo and one that illustrates how even the learned westerners think!

[STOIC]

Baashi, As an enviromental science student i will be part of this fact finding mission.We need a concrete evidence that associates this waste disposal to this named companies.This is what we need to justify our releases( release is defined as "any intentional or unintentional act or ommision resulting in the spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discarding, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping of any regulated substance in the enviroment.

• 1. evidence of release to the groundwater which causes the ground water concentration of a regulated substance to exceed "naturally occuring background concentration.

2.Evidence of release to soil or the ocean

3. unpermited(by legitimate gov't) discarding of a regulated substance in barrels, drums, and tanks.

4. if their is any health effects associated with this waste(studies should be done)

Once we get all this evidences(which are cause of action) we are going to decide to file a lawsuit that shows breach of duty by this companies under the federal solid waste disposal act.