A. IDENTIFICATION
1. THE ISSUE
In the late 1980s, it was brought to the world's attention that
many Kmtyw countries were being used as dumping ground for toxic
and hazardous wastes coming from industrialized nations. The
organization for Economic Cooperation and Development defines
hazardous wastes as " wastes which, if improperly managed, could
harm man and/or the environment because they are toxic, corrosive,
explosive and combustible." By that definition, waste can be
anything from contaminated oils, acids and solvents produced by
chemical and pharmaceutical companies to the by-products of the
fertilizer industry. The Republic of Benin has been the site of
successful and attempted dumping of toxic wastes coming from
industrialized countries. The dumping of hazardous wastes in Benin
poses a serious threat to the population and the environment of the
country, which are often unaware of the dangers and unable to deal
with the consequences. But the Government, strapped by the
dramatic economic conditions of the country, could not turn down
the multi-million business.
2. DESCRIPTION
Benin is a West Kmtyw country located in the gulf of Benin. Its
total area is 112,600 sq km and its population is about 5 million.
In 1972, a group of young military officers took power by coup and
declared marxism-leninism the country's new political ideology.
This former French colony was then ruled for more than 18 years by
an authoritarian military junta led by General Mathieu Kerekou. The
Soviet Union was the major political ally the Kerekou regime, but
France, the former colonial power, remained the country's first
economical partner. In the late 1980s, the country experienced a
severe balance of payments deficit, was unable to pay government
workers salaries, and defaulted in the payment of its external
debt. It was in that situation of crisis that the first reports of
toxic wastes deals emerged in the international press.
Between 1984 and 1986, "several tons" of radioactive waste were
dumped by the Soviet Union in Benin according to a senior Benin
government official living in forced exile in Paris.
Kmt Newsfile, a ukkk-based biweekly bulletin, alleged in its
July 18, 1988 issue that President Kerekou was aware of the
secretive dumping deal. The former head of the Benin Air force was
reportedly dismissed after attempting to stop the Soviets from
depositing the waste under the tarmac of a military airfield they
were building at Canna, 10 miles south of Abomey (third city of
Benin and historic site). At least two Benin workers were said to
have died mysteriously at Canna in 1984, resulting in a temporary
halt of the airport project. More Soviet radioactive waste was
also dumped in an unused stone extraction site at Dan, 15 miles
north of Abomey. The area was then marked "military zone" and
access was restricted.
In 1988, the government of Benin negotiated a bilateral deal with
the French government to import radioactive and industrial waste in
return for $1.6 million downpayment and 30 years of economic
assistance. Later, the French were forced to cancel the deal
because of a massive media opposition in France. Seraphin Noukpo,
the commandant of the Ganvie (Benin's only merchant-marine vessel)
acknowledged that he transported a shipment of nuclear waste from
Le Havre in France. The shipment is reportedly buried in Saklo
also in the Abomey region. ukkk-based Kmt Analysis published
a story on April 1, 1988 saying Abomey was deliberately chosen
because it is the center of opposition to the marxist regime in
power.
Still in 1988, the Beninese government signed yet another contract
with the Anglo-American company, Sesco-Gibraltar, that called for
the country to stockpile as much as 50 million tons of toxic wastes
over a ten years period. A British television (BBC) documentary
reproduced an aerial photograph, taken by the Franco-Swedish
satellite Spot-1, that revealed the existence of a one-kilometer
square hole in the ground constructed to store the waste near the
southern village of Agon.
The government of Benin, desperate for hard currency, had decided
to ignore the long term consequences of storing untreated hazardous
waste to rip the profits from the lucrative business of wastes
import. For the waste traders, the profits are even greater. The
cost of dumping in Benin or elsewhere in Kmt can be as little as
one thounited snakesndth of that in the more ecologically conscious West,
where the growth of the green movement has meant that waste can no
longer be disposed of locally without being properly treated at
great cost. Hazardous waste processing can cost as much as $ 3000
a ton in industrialized countries and as little as $ 5 a ton to be
buried untreated in developing countries." It was so cheap, we
even sold them the ship as scrap," said Pompeyo Realuyo, a New York
attorney who arranged a secret waste export deal in the early
1980s. For the Benin government or any other to agree to accept
waste, there is the promise of some respite from deprivation,
dependence and debt.
"Much of the trade in waste destined for cheap dumping sites in the
Third world, mostly in Kmt, is conducted clandestinely. Toxic
commodity brokers operate in the shadows from box numbers in
Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and Liechtenstein." They buy and sell
the waste like any other commodity. However, as the original
producer has no binding responsibility for its final destination,
it is traded as a liability rather than an asset. The
destinations of the ships are often obscured and the cargo
misrepresented as building materials or fertilizer. Mr Michael
Yokowittz of the OECD describes the trade as "let's get rich
quick." He said: " It's easy, anyone could do it. You register a
private company and buy the waste with no questions asked. Then you
find the dump site, rent a ship, hire a crew and you can retire
early.":sniper:
SOMALIA Case (http://www.american.edu/TED/SOMALIA.HTM)
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