Nuclear waste dumping leads to development of Somali piracy

Who Are the Real Pirates in Somali Waters?

Islam Online.net By Abdulkarim Mohamed Jimale 3 Dec 09 When will Somali piracy problem come to an end? When will the world really care for Somalia’s unprotected waters, stop the illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste? Continue reading →

December 4, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Somalia, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, Somalia, wastes | Leave a comment

Nuke waste dumping: Are Somalia’s pirates reacting to international abuses?

secret-agent

Are Somalia’s pirates reacting to international abuses? Somali UK 21 April 09 “…………………………The coast remains an easy dumping ground for toxic and nuclear waste.

“It’s a real problem,” said Roger Middleton, a Somalia expert and researcher for the London-based think tank, Chatham House.

“There are very shady goings-on, mostly involving the Mafia.”

The force of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami pulled up dozens of toxic-waste containers, leaving a lethal trail along the Somali coast.

A UN report found as a result many residents suffered “acute respiratory infections, heavy coughing, bleeding gums and mouth, abdominal haemorrhages, unusual skin rashes, and even death.”

Two years later, a team of specialists discovered nine toxic waste sites along 700 km of coastline in southern Somalia.

“Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war there,” Nick Nuttall of the UN’s Environment Program told the television channel Al-Jazeera, echoing similar findings from other reports.

“And the waste is many different kinds. There is uranium radioactive waste. There is lead, and heavy metals like cadmium and mercury. There is also industrial waste, and there are hospital wastes, chemical wastes – you name it.”

The waste came from European companies, which paid shady intermediaries as little as $2.50 a tonne to dispose of it, compared with about $1,000 a tonne in Europe…………

………. http://www.somaliuk.com/Indepth1/Fullarticle.php?IndepthID=483

April 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Somalia | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive, Somalia | Leave a comment

Toxic waste, including nuclear, behind Somali piracy

Toxic waste behind Somali piracy

Axis of Logic By Najad Abdullahi

Al Jazeera

Monday, Apr 13, 2009 Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukranian ship they captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste.

The ransom demand is a means of “reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years”, Januna Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates, based in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said.

“The Somali coastline has been destroyed, and we believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas.”
The pirates are holding the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and military hardware, off Somalia’s northern coast………………

………….Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy for Somalia confirmed to Al Jazeera the world body has “reliable information” that European and Asian companies are dumping toxic waste, including nuclear waste, off the Somali coastline……………

………Mustafa Tolba, the former UNEP executive director, told Al Jazeera that he discovered the firms were set up as fictitious companies by larger industrial firms to dispose of hazardous waste.
“At the time, it felt like we were dealing with the Mafia, or some sort of organised crime group, possibly working with these industrial firms,” he said. “It was very shady, and quite underground, and I would agree with Ould-Abdallah’s claims that it is still going on… Unfortunately the war has not allowed environmental groups to investigate this fully.”

The Italian mafia controls an estimated 30 per cent of Italy’s waste disposal companies, including those that deal with toxic waste……………

………………Mohammed Gure, chairman of the Somalia Concern Group, said that the social and environmental consequences will be felt for decades.

“The Somali coastline used to sustain hundreds of thousands of people, as a source of food and livelihoods. Now much of it is almost destroyed, primarily at the hands of these so-called ministers that have sold their nation to fill their own pockets.”

Ould-Abdallah said piracy will not prevent waste dumping. “The intentions of these pirates are not concerned with protecting their environment,” he said. “What is ultimately needed is a functioning, effective government that will get its act together and take control of its affairs.”

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_55437.shtml

April 14, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Somalia | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive, Somalia, uranium | 1 Comment

Pentagon contracted ship struck by pirates

Pirates Strike a US Ship Owned by a Pentagon Contractor, But is the Media Telling the Whole Story?

MEDIA CHANNEL By AlterNet.10 April 09 The Somali pirates who took control of the 17,000-ton “Maersk Alabama” cargo-ship in the early hours of Wednesday morning probably were unaware that the ship they were boarding belonged to a U.S. Department of Defense contractor with “top security clearance,” which does a half-billion dollars in annual business with the Pentagon, primarily the Navy……….

…………..The U.S. military says the Alabama was not operating on a DoD contract at the time and was said to be delivering food aid………………

……….Often, the reporting on pirates centers around the gangsterism of the pirates and the seemingly huge ransoms they demand…………

…………But this type of coverage of the pirates is similar to the false narrative about “tribalism” being the cause of all of Africa’s problems………..hardly the whole “pirate” story………………..

…………. Nuclear dumping has polluted the environment. “In 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed,” wrote Johann Hari in The Independent. “Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since — and the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country’s food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.”

According to Hari:

As soon as the [Somali] government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.

This is the context in which the “pirates” have emerged.

Media Channel – Home

April 10, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AFRICA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive, Somalia, uranium | Leave a comment