Toxic waste: Amsterdam to blame
2006-12-06 20:28
Amsterdam - A deputy mayor of Amsterdam said on Wednesday that the city was politically responsible for a decision to allow a toxic waste-bearing tanker to leave for Ivory Coast where 10 people were killed by poisonous fumes.
In August, hundreds of tons of petroleum waste brought into Ivory Coast by a multinational, Trafigura, were dumped illicitly across more than a dozen open-air rubbish tips around the commercial capital of Abidjan.
The toxic sludge caused contamination blatoxic med for the deaths of at least 10 people and left dozens in hospital, sparking demonstrations in the west African nation.
The tanker carrying the waste, the Probo Koala, had previously unsuccessfully tried to offload its toxic cargo in Amsterdam before sailing on to Ivory Coast.
Politically responsible
"Several things went badly in Amsterdam. We feel politically responsible," Marijke Vos, deputy mayor in charge of the environment, told a news conference on Wednesday.
Vos vowed to improve the chain of command in the port of Amsterdam, which allowed the Probo Koala to reload the toxic waste after the port company APS declined to treat the poisonous liquid.
According to an independent report on the incident, Amsterdam's environmental services should never have allowed the tanker to take the waste back and leave for Africa.
- AFP