Ylva:

   This is indeed very disturbing. I just can't get it when the west is
responsible for the destabilization of the Congo region, where vast reserves
of Uranium are extracted, and end up bringing us the radioactive residue.
This makes me sick! Everyone knows that the proper disposal of radioactive
waste requires the kind of money that is sometimes more than the annual
budget of some African economies. I hope African leaders take this issue as
serious as it is. Thanks a lot.

Ous Ngum.
>  Travel News Review
>
>  11 May '01
>
>  Africa Becomes Nuclear Dumping Ground
>
>  A recent study by an independent Italian investigative agency has
>  revealed that Africa is fast becoming a dumping ground for the
>  radioactive waste of rich Western countries. According to the report,
>  thousands of tons of deadly substances are regularly unloaded off the
>  coasts of Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Algeria and Mozambique in a
>  lucrative 'eco-mafia' ring worth an estimated US$7 billion per year.
>  The Italian environmental organization, Ligambiente 2001, claims that
>  over 600,000 tons of radioactive material are currently lying on the
>  ocean floor off the western Sahara coast alone. In addition, three of
>  the world's largest illegal dumping grounds are located in Somalia,
>  where forced laborers are made to handle the waste without any
>  protective clothing or equipment.
>
>  Sources say radioactive rubbish is transported in heavy metal
>  containers via cargo vessel and simply thrown overboard at its
>  destination, where it sinks to to bottom of the sea. Lloyds of London
>  is currently looking into several cases in which ships carrying
>  radioactive waste to African coastal areas are believed to have been
>  deliberately sunk and then reported as accidents. At present, there
>  are no heavy penalties for the illegal trafficking of waste;
>  violators are subject only to minor administrative sanctions, which
>  pale in comparison to the enormous profits generated by this new form
>  of environmental and humanitarian crime.





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