- (NAIROBI) -- A United Nations' report released this week
says nuclear and hazardous wastes dumped on Somalia's shores had been scattered
by the recent Asian tsunami and are now infecting Somalis in coastal areas.
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- A spokesman for the United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP), Nick Nuttall, told VOA that for the past 15 years or so, European
companies and others have used Somalia as a dumping ground for a wide array
of nuclear and hazardous wastes.
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- "There's uranium radioactive waste, there's leads,
there's heavy metals like cadmium and mercury, there's industrial wastes,
and there's hospital wastes, chemical wastes, you name it,î he said.
ìIt's not rocket science to know why they're doing it because of
the instability there."
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- Mr. Nuttall said, on average, it cost European companies
$2.50 per ton to dump the wastes on Somalia's beaches rather than $250
a ton to dispose of the wastes in Europe.
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- He said the Asian tsunami dislodged and smashed open
the drums, barrels, and other containers, spreading the contaminants as
far away as 10 or more kilometers inland.
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- Mr. Nuttall said it is impossible to know the exact tonnage
or number of containers of wastes on Somalia's shores, but that the problem,
in his words, "is very serious."
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- The results of the contamination on coastal populations,
Mr. Nuttall says, have been disastrous.
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- "These problems range from acute respiratory infections
to dry, heavy coughing, mouth bleedings, abdominal hemorrhages, what they
described as unusual skin chemical reactions,î he noted. ìSo
there's a whole variety of ailments that people are reporting from these
villages where we had a chance to look. We need to go much further and
farther in finding out the real scale of this problem."
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- The tsunami's effects on Somalia were detailed in a report
the United Nations Environment Program released this week at its governing
council meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
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- The report described the effects of the late-December
tsunami, which killed up to 300,000 people in 11 countries. It says the
massive waves dislodged hazardous materials in countries throughout the
region and recommended that governments preserve natural resources and
restrict or ban development in vulnerable areas.
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- According to the report, hazardous wastes in Somalia
have also contaminated some groundwater areas there.
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- The dumping of hazardous and nuclear wastes onto Somalia's
coastline is a long-running concern. In a media report last year, Somali
fisherman said they saw foreign vessels dropping containers onto the beach
and pollution into the waters.
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- Somali officials said the country was vulnerable to illegal
dumping, as Africa's longest coastline is not patrolled and the country
has no coast guards, or health officials and facilities to test whatever
is inside the containers.
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- Until late last year, Somalia had been without an effective
central government since 1991, when then-leader Siad Barre was ousted.
The new transitional government is in the process of moving to the capital
Mogadishu from its current base in Kenya.
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- http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-02-23-voa23.cfm
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