News of toxic waste dumping in Somali waters has circulated since the collapse of the Mohamed Siad Barre military regime in 1991, but because of the lack of a functioning central government and general lawless state of Somalia there has been little systematic investigation done on both the source of the toxic waste and its impact on communities living along Somalias 3,300km coastline. The issue received renewed attention in 2004, however, when a Tsunami surge washed up containers containing hazardous waste in Southern Somalia. According to a report from Common Community Care (2006), a local nongovernmental organization, radioactive materials and hydrogen peroxide toxic wastes were found in different locations in Southern and Central Somalia. Common Community Care (CCC) stated an unconfirmed number of fishermen had died from health conditions at locations where containers were found. In Barava district of Lower Shabelle region, local residents spoke of sudden death and skin rashes. Communities reported mass death of fish[1]. Investigations in the 1990s linked the dumping of toxic waste to European front companies associated with the Italian mafia, a claim that was again made in 2012 and which the European Union is reported to be investigating. A 2005 United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report says most of the waste has been dumped on seashores in containers and disposable leaking barrels. And former United Nations Envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, told Aljazeera in 2008 that the world body had reliable information that European and Asian firms were continuously dumping hazardous waste off Somalia[2]. |