The transportation of Toxic waste to the Ivory Coast, a country in South Africa, is allegedly responsible for the injury of thousands of local people living on the coast line. It is reported that Trafigura, a British and Dutch based company, had attempted to acquire a Dutch Contractor to clean up the waste on one of its ships but the price was too high so the company employed an Ivorian Company to dispose of the waste. The company Trafigura denies any wrong doing.
A UN report shows that the dumped waste can very likely be held accountable for the death of fifteen people in the area, strong evidence suggests.
The company has pleaded not guilty to the three charges that they face: It Illegally exported toxic waste from a European County to Africa, that it delivered toxic waste to a Dutch contractor without revealing how toxic it was and that the company falsified papers.
It has also been reported that Trafigura paid £104m to the Ivory Coast Government in 2007. Trafigura also paid £32m in an out of court settlement to those people who said they had been injured due to the disposal of the waste.
This is unacceptable, it seems that the multimillion pound company feel as though they are above the law and clearly has not taken into account any thoughts for the people whose lives they have compromised as a result of their behaviour.
It is reported that 30,000 people waited for their settlement cheques after they reportedly claimed that they have been injured by the waste that Trafigura claimed wasn’t dangerous and that they weren’t aware that the chemicals would be dumped. Trafigura claimed that they could not be held responsible for the deaths and serious injuries that had been reported in the area after the waste had been dumped.
No matter the size or value of the company, they have a responsibility to ensure that waste products are disposed of correctly to ensure such circumstances do not happen. The results of allowing toxic waste to simply be dumped can be fatal. Perhaps this company will now have learn’t its lesson and will consider the people and environment before simply dumping their waste, it’s a shame that it’s taken millions of pounds for this to be realised.
