Trial in Ivorian toxic dumping scandal

BBC Two's Newsnight has a piece on 'the biggest toxic dumping scandal of the 21st century,' which allegedly poisoned at least 30,000 people and killed 17 in Abidjan in 2006

The program's investigation led to Amsterdam where the waste could have been safely disposed of. Instead the company, Trafigura, went for the cheaper option and offloaded it in Abidjan, where it was illegally dumped in at least 18 different places across Côte d'Ivoire's commercial capital.

Trafigura denies any responsibility. The company says that the action was undertaken by an independent contractor Companie Tommy but called the dumping 'reprehensible and illegal.' Yet Trafigura claims that 'it is not possible that the content of the slops could have led to the deaths and widespread injuries which are alleged to have been caused by them.'

The UK Guardian also ran a piece on the lawsuit filed in English court against Trafigura. The company has been accused of pressuring witnesses to change their story.

West Africa: Britain's garbage dump

UK media outlets The Independent newspaper and Sky News have stories on how Britain is using West Africa is its national garbage dump. In conjunction with the advocacy group Greenpeace, the media outlets reported (as The Independent described) how:

Tons of toxic waste collected from British municipal dumps is being sent illegally to Africa in flagrant breach of this country’s obligation to ensure its rapidly growing mountain of defunct televisions, computers and gadgets are disposed of safely.

Hundreds of thousands of discarded items, which under British law must be dismantled or recycled by specialist contractors, are being packaged into cargo containers and shipped to countries such as Nigeria and Ghana, where they are stripped of their raw metals by young men and children working on poisoned waste dumps.


The Independent's investigation can be found here, while the Sky News report can be found here. An Independent editorial pointedly denounced the scandal.

Toxic waste disaster in Mombasa

In an incident that brought back unfortunate memories of a similar disaster in Abidjan, the BBC has a disturbing report on an apparent toxic waste spill in Mombasa, Kenya's second largest city.

Hundreds of residents claim that they started to become sick after a consignment of leaking chemical containers was dumped nearby.

Others have complained of breathing difficulties, stomach upsets and chest pains, including the BBC journalist who went to the area to report on the story. Two residents said they had miscarriages.

Two people have been arrested and charged in the incident. The World Service's Focus on Africa program reported that they belonged to a Ugandan company.


An editorial in Nairobi's Business Daily urges the country's National Environment Management Authority to be more pro-active in preventing such disasters in the first place. Noting that the area is being subjected to the ongoing dumping of electronic waste such as obsolete computers, televisions, mobile phones, and other used electronic equipment exported from USA and Europe.