Tsunami may have spread previously dumped hazardous wastes
The Indian Ocean tsunami that hit the Somali
coast in December may have spread hazardous wastes dumped there earlier,
exposing residents to possible health problems, the UN environment agency, UNEP, said on Thursday.
Nick Nuttall, UNEP head of media services, told IRIN that preliminary
reports had shown that waste containers on the Somali coast may have been
damaged by the tsunami and toxic chemicals blown around by the wind.
"Our experts believe that a wide range of wastes had been dumped
there,"
Nuttall said. "Radioactive wastes, hospital wastes, heavy metals like lead
and Cadmium, chemical wastes and leather treatment wastes."
The issue of hazardous waste in Somalia dates back to the early 1990s,
when foreign companies - taking advantage of the lack of government -
dumped unknown quantities of waste.
"There have been reports from time to time of dumping," Nuttall
added. "It
costs [US] $2.50 a tonne to get rid of waste in Africa, whereas to dispose
of the same waste in Europe costs more like $250 a tonne."
Nuttall said that it was not clear where the waste originated. "All we
know of country of origin is that they are likely to have been European
countries," he said.
According to the spokesman, the most affected localities were believed to
be North Hobyo [Mudug region, central Somalia] and Warsheik, north of
Mogadishu. The number of people affected was unknown, but some sicknesses
had been reported including "mouth bleeding, respiratory infections,
abdominal haemorrhages [and] unusual skin reactions".
UNEP, he added, was in talks with the Somali transitional government about
sending a full assessment mission.
The tsunami devastated more than 650 km of coastline on 26 December.
Relief workers estimated that at least 150 people died while 54,000 were
left in need of emergency assistance. Northeastern Somalia was the worst
affected, particularly the stretch between Hafun [Bari region] and Garacad
[Mudug region].
Some 4,000 of those displaced are expected to relocate from where they
used to live because the massive waves altered the coastline. Many of
these people were still living on higher ground about a kilometre from the
coastline, weeks after the tsunami.
Residents of the fishing community of Hafun, the worst hit area, had their
boats and more than half their homes destroyed by the killer wave, leaving
them without shelter, clean water, sanitation and food, according to
relief workers. - IRIN
More information:
[This Item may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.
Copyright (©) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2005]
www.irinnews.org
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