Côte d'Ivoire: UN environment agency launches plan on toxic waste
16 June 2008 - A new project to help the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and others in the region manage hazardous waste was launched
today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The project is designed to tackle issues raised by the incident in 2006 when the dumping of toxic waste from the vessel
Probo Koala in Abidjan left several people dead and caused 3,000 others to seek medical help, complaining of nausea and
vomiting after inhaling fumes.
The UNEP initiative will establish a hazardous waste management plan for the District of Abidjan which will address gaps
in regulations on the movement of hazardous wastes, unscrupulous behaviour by some private operators, improvement in
port systems and the need to strengthen local capacities to handle toxic waste.
The project will be replicated in other French-speaking African countries in the region, with the possibility of
extending it to English-speaking countries as well, and will also examine the possibility of setting up an early warning
system between Europe and Africa, with the support of the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The initiative, which is funded by the Governments of the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, is being carried out jointly
by UNEP and the Basel Convention Regional Centre for French-speaking countries in Africa.
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, regulates
international movements of waste and obliges signatories to ensure that wastes are disposed of in an environmentally
sound manner.
Parties to the Convention are also required to minimize the quantities that are moved across borders, to treat and
dispose of wastes as close as possible to their place of generation, and to prevent or minimize the generation of wastes
at source. Strong controls on storage, transport, treatment, reuse, recycling, recovery and final disposal of wastes are
also obligatory.
ENDS