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Amnesty international and greenpeace netherlands
Chapter 5 Rachel Gogoua, resident of Akouédo where large quantities of toxic waste was dumped. Photo taken during an Amnesty International research mission to Abidjan, February 2009. © Amnesty International
In the first few hours of 20 August 2006, the smell was so strong and all pervading that many people were frightened and distressed, triggering public panic. At this point people had no idea of the cause. As news of the nature of the waste emerged over the next few days, confusion and anxiety turned to anger, generating protests and violent demonstrations across the city.194 Those who could left the city and many businesses and schools were shut down for days.195 People who could not afford to leave their homes, though, had to continue to live and work close to the sites where the waste had been dumped. Lack of information about the composition of the waste and its potential effects also contributed to people’s anxiety and hampered the medical response.196 There were also fears about contamination of food and water, since the initial analysis of the waste by the national authorities indicated that it contained organochlorines.197 These are organic pollutants that can accumulate in the food chain and reach people through multiple pathways (such as drinking water and seafood), and may also be acutely toxic.198
Over the next few days and weeks, medical centres and hospitals were flooded with tens of thousands of people suffering from neurological, digestive, respiratory, ear, nose and throat (ENT), ophthalmological, cutaneous, and other health problems.191 The National Institute for Public Hygiene recorded that 82 people were hospitalized because they were suffering from more severe symptoms linked to exposure to the waste.192 The Ivorian authorities also recorded a number of deaths resulting from exposure to the waste. Official reports documented that between 15 and 17 deaths were caused by exposure to the toxic waste.193
The government prohibited farming, fishing and small commercial activities in areas next to the contaminated sites.199 The Ministry of Agriculture destroyed fruit and vegetable crops. It also ordered the destruction of livestock and fish, and the closure of slaughterhouses near the affected sites.200 People’s access to their livelihoods and work was undermined by these government orders, and some people have claimed that they have only been partially compensated for the losses that they suffered. Local communities have also pointed out that, because of the financial pressures that small farmers and fishermen were under, or because of the lack of information, these orders were not fully implemented, which led to further concerns about people eating food from contaminated sites.201 All of these concerns were exacerbated by delays in fully cleaning up the sites where dumping occurred. These issues are discussed in greater detail in this chapter.