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Is Toxic Waste Behind Somali Piracy?
- Text size
Bob Ewing
Digital Journal
October 19, 2008
European firms are being accused of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast. This is the claim that the Somalia pirates, who are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukrainian ship, are making. The pirates say the money will go towards cleaning up the waste.
Januna Ali Jama is a spokesman for the pirates and he says the ransom demand is a means of “reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years”.
“The Somali coastline has been destroyed, and we believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas.” he added.
The MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and military hardware, off Somalia’s northern coast is being held for ransom.
The International Maritime Bureau states 61 attacks by pirates have been reported since the start of the year.
Money is the primary objective of the hijackings; however, claims of the continued environmental destruction off Somalia’s coast have been largely ignored by the region’s maritime authorities.
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy for Somalia said there is “reliable information” that European and Asian companies are dumping toxic waste, including nuclear waste, off the Somali coastline.
“I must stress however, that no government has endorsed this act, and that private companies and individuals acting alone are responsible,” he said
Allegations of the dumping of toxic waste, as well as illegal fishing, have circulated since the early 1990s.
The tsunami of 2004 literally dumped evidence of such on the beaches of northern Somalia.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the tsunami had washed up rusting containers of toxic waste on the shores of Puntland.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Nick Nuttall is a UNEP spokesman and has stated that when the barrels were smashed open by the force of the waves, the containers exposed a “frightening activity” that has been going on for more than decade.
“Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war there,” he said.
“European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of the waste, costing as little as $2.50 a tonne, where waste disposal costs in Europe are something like $1000 a tonne.
“And the waste is many different kinds. There is uranium radioactive waste. There is lead, and heavy metals like cadmium and mercury. There is also industrial waste, and there are hospital wastes, chemical wastes – you name it.”
Since the containers came ashore, hundreds of residents have fallen ill, suffering from mouth and abdominal bleeding, skin infections and other ailments.
“We [the UNEP] had planned to do a proper, in-depth scientific assessment on the magnitude of the problem. But because of the high levels of insecurity onshore and off the Somali coast, we are unable to carry out an accurate assessment of the extent of the problem,” he said.
Ould-Abdallah claims the practice still continues. “What is most alarming here is that nuclear waste is being dumped. Radioactive uranium waste that is potentially killing Somalis and completely destroying the ocean,” he said.
There are apparently legal reasons for not naming the companies involved in waste dumping.The practice helps fuel the 18-year-old civil war in Somalia as companies are paying Somali government ministers to dump their waste, or to secure licenses and contracts.
“There is no government control … and there are few people with high moral ground … [and] yes, people in high positions are being paid off, but because of the fragility of the TFG [Transitional Federal Government], some of these companies now no longer ask the authorities – they simply dump their waste and leave.”
There are ethical questions to be considered because the companies are negotiating contracts with a government that is largely divided along tribal lines.
“How can you negotiate these dealings with a country at war and with a government struggling to remain relevant?”
In 1992, a contract to secure the dumping of toxic waste was made by Swiss and Italian shipping firms Achair Partners and Progresso, with Nur Elmi Osman, a former official appointed to the government of Ali Mahdi Mohamed, one of many militia leaders involved in the ousting of Mohamed Siad Barre, Somalia’s former president.
The UNEP investigated the matter at the request of the Swiss and Italian governments.
Both firms had denied entering into any agreement with militia leaders at the beginning of the Somali civil war.
“At the time, it felt like we were dealing with the Mafia, or some sort of organised crime group, possibly working with these industrial firms,” Mustafa Tolba, the former UNEP executive director said.
“It was very shady, and quite underground, and I would agree with Ould-Abdallah’s claims that it is still going on… Unfortunately the war has not allowed environmental groups to investigate this fully.”
“If these acts are continuing, then surely they must have been seen by someone involved in maritime operations,” Abdi Ismail Samataris a professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota said.
“Is the cargo aimed at a certain destination more important than monitoring illegal activities in the region? Piracy is not the only problem for Somalia, and I think it’s irresponsible on the part of the authorities to overlook this issue.”
Mohammed Gure, chairman of the Somalia Concern Group, said “The Somali coastline used to sustain hundreds of thousands of people, as a source of food and livelihoods. Now much of it is almost destroyed, primarily at the hands of these so-called ministers that have sold their nation to fill their own pockets.”
Ould-Abdallah said. “The intentions of these pirates are not concerned with protecting their environment. What is ultimately needed is a functioning, effective government that will get its act together and take control of its affairs.”
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October 19th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
toxic waste floats to the top — of boardrooms
October 19th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
This is some serious s---. i actually thought that the pirates were just a bunch of morons,but now i see that they have a reason
October 19th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
we sacrifice what is most wholesome and perfect, our planet, for green paper. Learn proper natural health care
http://www.curecabinet.com
October 19th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
THE STORY WHEN FIRST REPORTED LEFT ME SAYING “WHAT” THIS STORY SOUMDS MORE PLAUSIBLE THEN THE OTHER LAME STORY.
October 19th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Actually the Somali pirates are making a political point which of course they will profit from too. Massive fishing fleets from all over the world have been overfishing the Somali coast line for years leaving the native Somali fishermen with very little to catch when they throw their little nets overboard. A lot of this has to do with the deprivation of livelihood for a large segment of poor Somalia. They want an end to the massive commercial fishing that has taken away their industry.
They are also concerned with the tons and tons of ocean dumping off the coast which has fouled the waters. Pirates are seen as heroes to most Somalis. BTW, when they boarded this ship, they had no clue it was filled with to brim with tanks and military gear… they had an idea it would be a good target. The pirates give interviews. If you listen to the BBC or other global media it can be very interesting. So far they are not going to give in. US and Russia and other nations have been trying to get them to come to some agreement, hut it remains a real hair pull. So far they are saying no way. It is becoming a protest action.
October 19th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Most rebels aren’t rebelling against something good, they are rebelling against injustice.
October 19th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Can WE HIRE THESE PIRATES TO JUST KILL THE NEXT PEOPLE THEY SEE DUMPING TOXIC WASTE?
October 19th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
THEN FROM NOW ON, DUMPING TOXIC WASTE IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH
I THINK THEPRACTICE WOULD CEASE OR A LEAST COME TO A BARE MINIMUM
October 19th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Let’s hire them so we can get rid of our Wall Street/NWO toxic waste.
October 19th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Great , they fish where they dump toxic waste . tuna anyone ..
October 19th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I wonder which ‘goddess’ this killing is dedicated to.
October 19th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Well, if this is true, then more power to ‘em. I thought they were just bored and thought piracy was just a good idea to ‘em. Maybe their idea will catch on. arrrhhh!
October 19th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Piracy is a problem eh?…perhaps if foreigners hadn’t ****ed around with Somalia this wouldn’t happen.
Ethiopia’s puppet regime in Somalia needs to realise its untenable position.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Western so-called civilization can be summed up in one word: Suicidal. And in the illusionary glory of its supposed ‘progress’ it is willing to take the whole world with it.
October 19th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
#10 ice: TOO Funny: “Great , they fish where they dump toxic waste . tuna anyone ..”
October 19th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I just got from Belize a week ago, and was so saddened to learn their history.
After pirates settled the place, the British moved in and it took them about 300 trees to cut down every single tree in the country, after which a jungle grew in and they granted them independence.
Now, Queen is on their money as a constant reminder.
October 19th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
All of this for money and power. Too funny, when in reality what good is all the money and power in the world if there is no world left.
October 19th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Why is the “U.S.” so quick to label them as pirates because they are standing up for what they believe in? Or are we getting the real story? Don’t believe everything you read….
I would also recommend checking your resources other than “cnn, foxnews, or msnbc.”
Why is the “u.s.” so quick to label everyone as “terrorists”, but yet they are the ones so quick to invade other countries and kill thousands of innocent lives including women and children? You won’t see that on your “cnn and foxnews”.
WAKE UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES TO WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON.
IF YOU DOUBT ME, RESEARCH IT YOURSELF……
October 19th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
When I see something like this, I think I should side with Green Peace about there being all kinds of pharmaceuticals buried in the jungle that are being destroyed by industry and so on.
These cats seem to have something that takes about 15 days to wear off. First they take it, and then they hijack a ship, and then, all of a sudden, they wake up and start saying things like “We did WHAT??” and “What’s this GUN doing in my hand?” and “How in the world are we going to SAVE ourselves?” and so on.
And then, there is another short flashback for the whateveritwas they all took, and they invent some story about world peace being the reason to justify their actions.
Neat, huh? I remember a talk show on TV where a number of prostitutes were allowed to say why they didn’t believe in marriage. I guess queers can tell you why they don’t like women, and thieves can state, some of them quite eloquently why what’s yours is theirs.
Uhm, they are Pirates, you know.
October 19th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
In reply of number 18 its because MOST of the time the main stream lies about things like this and all we get is dis-info.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Yes companies where dumping toxic waste off the horn of africa. Yes many countries including spain and north korea do illegal fishing off the coast.
The main drive of the pirates is greed not politics or fishing or dumping.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Who cares about toxic waste? It’s all about CO2 now, which is not dangerous for humans or nature, but hey, it teaches us double think.
October 20th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Faygo IS upon us…We go skinny dippin’ in barrels of toxic waste and after that I pour myself a little taste!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nobody gives a f--- about your punkass’ rules!!!!! Reach for your putter and I’ll stick your f---in’ ass!!!! ICP…gotta’ show the love!!! Anyone like Chicken Huntin’???? Word!!! “All ‘HAIL’ Thermal Expansion!!!”
October 20th, 2008 at 1:13 am
And btw…We should’ve LAID WASTE to those f---s more than we did!!! Here’s some food…and someone steals it…and those motherf---ers TURN on the hand that HELPS them trying to retrieve the very f---in’ food WE donated!!! GLASS PARK!!! Adid should be smoked if he’s not already dead!!! “All ‘HAIL’ Thermal Expansion!!!”
October 20th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Alex Jones has totally missed the big story here – the piracy of the Iranian ship MV Iran Deyanat.
Radioactive and killing the pirates who opened the lead lined containers. Came from China to Germany carrying “iron ore”? China is the world;s biggest IMPORTER of iron ore!!!
Somali pirates show radiation sickness on hijacked Iranian ship
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/8386
October 20th, 2008 at 5:41 am
it is even worse. It’s nuclear waste. Check the complete story at
http://tbrnews.org/Archives/a2881.htm#004
October 20th, 2008 at 6:53 am
in 1996, I was renting a small office in Switzerland. The walls where thin so one could hear the conversations taking place in the adjacent offices. One day, I worked late and I switched the lights off because I was tired. Nobody suspected that I was actually sitting at my desk. The owner of an office adjacent to mine came at about 10pm and started a long distance call to Africa.
He was talking to an intermediate about a corrupted official who was going to allow them a “license” to dump uncontrolled wast into an old mine. The cover of my neighbor was “travel agent”.
I contacted Greenpeace, but guess what they told me: if you like to help us, you can buy a t-shirt and subscribe to our Organization for XX.– CHF a year… disgusting! They don’t even care.
October 20th, 2008 at 8:44 am
2004. The night the tsunami struck the coast of Somalia nuclear waste came in with the surge tide.
The United Nations Environment Program discovered EU nuclear thugs had been taking advantage of the 16 year Somalia civil war by bribing coastal war lords to allow the dumping of nuclear waste packed in ordinary containers a few mile offshore. Fishermen who witnessed the containers sliding into the deep had no idea what was in them until mother nature in all her fury threw a dozen containers ashore smashing them open.
Hundreds who came to see what they could salvage suddenly dropped dead from breathing nuclear fumes. Many died later of abdominal haemorrhaging, acute respiratory infections, whole body skin reactions, heavy dry coughing and bleeding from the upper lungs.
http://www.sxolsout.110mb.com/75.html scroll down to Illegal Nuclear Dumps and follow link to EU
October 20th, 2008 at 9:00 am
2004. The night the tsunami struck the coast of Somalia nuclear waste came in with the surge tide.
The United Nations Environment Program discovered EU nuclear thugs had been taking advantage of the 16 year Somalia civil war by bribing coastal war lords to allow the dumping of nuclear waste packed in ordinary containers a few mile offshore. Fishermen who witnessed the containers sliding into the deep had no idea what was in them until mother nature in all her fury threw a dozen containers ashore smashing them open. Hundreds who came to see what they could salvage suddenly dropped dead from breathing nuclear fumes. Many died later of abdominal haemorrhaging, acute respiratory infections, whole body skin reactions, heavy dry coughing and bleeding from the upper lungs.
http://www.sxolsout.110mb.com/75.html scroll down to Illegal Nuclear Dumps. Then follow the link to EU
October 20th, 2008 at 10:43 am
this is what happens when countries are made ultra poor from banks and corporations that buy off local authorities to rob the people of a nation of their resources.. We got a big problem on this planet and it’s called GLOBALISM
October 20th, 2008 at 11:21 am
they always label people to hide the truth.
October 20th, 2008 at 11:50 am
#33— conspiracy nutbags.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKNSLGTJ3OU
October 20th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Contrary to a widely cultivated popular opinion, being dumb, mean and ugly isn’t caused by poverty. No one likes dumb, mean and ugly people and therefore they are “poor”.
It takes a really crazy person to look at a tribe living all by themselves in the bronze age. or possibly late “hunter/gatherer” mode, and think that what they really need is a career in aerospace so they can have Volvos and hi-def TVs
October 20th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Not one word about any of this in the Aussie media. Typical.
October 20th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
jeez, if the somali militias want to control their territorial waters finally, i don’t know what to say other than US and French fleets gtfo.
October 21st, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I doubt seriously that this is about environmental waste. You mean that 50 well armed hijackers(I think it was) decided to “save the wales” and hijack an Ukranian ship with Russian weapons. Weapons that in the end most likely would go to fight the Ethiopian forces in Somalia? Nope.
The russians sent a warship there. I believe they were ready to go in right away, officially just to kill some “pirates” something that no one could have opposed politicaly but inofficially to kill american paid mercenaries, an equal or even better prize. I believe a deal has been made between the the US and Russia.
Still to see what happens.
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:00 am
yes it is true , i know first hand how much crap we dump there
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:20 am
People only rebel against injustices, just as we did in 1776 against King George, just as the Mujahdeen did in Afghanistan against Russia. How vigorous did the tree huggers and all the environmentalist scream when the EXXON VALDEZ spilled all the oil in the Alaskan inside passage? This should matter a great deal, even if this isn’t in the US. This is how the New World Order will treat the world population when they get their chance.
November 9th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
taking waste thousands of miles by sea to dump it seems like a ridiculous idea to me. Sound like the pirates are looking for some public sympathy for their plight. Perhaps a few well placed missiles would clean up the coast a little.