Joe Dinga Pefok
5 September 2008
Residents of Ndobo quarter in the outskirts of Bonaberi (Douala IV) are living in dread of a tanker containing expired toxic chlorine that is emitting noxious gas.
On August 27, many of the inhabitants had evacuated the area following a call by the local administration.But on September 1 they began returning to their homes. To their greatest surprise and dismay, they realised that the Wouri administration had not yet removed the tanker of the toxic waste.
The residents told The Post that rather than return to their refuge with a lot of problems, they would prefer to face the risk of the hazardous waste.The indignant inhabitants hold the Wouri administration culpable for the delay in disposing of the dangerous tanker.
Meanwhile, The Post gathered that the administration had late last week, contacted a company; HYDRAC, to do an analysis of the toxic chemical as well as the gas it is emitting.
The company was also asked to examine and see how the tanker and its content could be safely removed from Ndobo and disposed of.
This was probably to avoid a similar situation last year when one person died in the process of trying to dispose of the same type of toxic waste.
Genesis
Panic erupted in Ndobo following the discovery of the toxic dump recently with the gas it was spewing already causing a number of people to be hospitalised.The toxic waste is said to be expired chlorine, which was bought by a company for the manufacture of bleach (eau de javel).
The story goes that when the company bought the stock of chemical, the factory closed down and the chlorine later expired. The proprietor of the factory reportedly abandoned the tanker at the site.
A Chinese company that took over the site to set up a shoe factory, reportedly buried the tanker underground, instead of disposing of it. As the tanker rotted away, a leakage started.
With time, some of the liquid leeched into the ground and damaged the vegetation in the area. Surprisingly, nobody appeared to bother about the strange situation, until the expired chemical started emitting a pungent smell that rapidly became a health hazard to the inhabitants.
The locals say even then, they thought the pungent smell was coming from the Chinese shoe factory. Then some inhabitants started developing health problems like headache and other complications. But it was only when three mechanics at a nearby garage fell seriously sick from respiratory infections and other complications, that the attention of the local administration was drawn to the situation.
A delegation led by the Bonaberi DO comprised of local administrative and municipal authorities, as well as well as technical staff from the Wouri Divisional Delegation of Environment and Nature Protection, visited the site of the toxic dump on August 28.
Having set out without taking any precautions, the delegation had to flee when the pungent smell from the toxic product hit them, causing them to collapse. They were also rushed to the hospital for medical attention.
The Wouri Divisional Delegation of Environment and Nature Protection and the forces of law and order, on the instruction of the local administration, immediately marked out the area affected by the toxic product and declared a high risk zone.
Reckless Disposal Of Industrial Waste
Meanwhile, the Divisional Delegate said the proprietor of the chlorine tanker in question, is the same person who in 2006 secretly dumped eight tankers of expired chlorine in a bush at Nkapa, also in the outskirts of Douala.
Initially, inhabitants who saw the abandoned tankers did not pay much attention to it. But last year, the denizens raised an alarm when the liquid that leaked from the tankers produced a noxious gas that polluted the atmosphere.
The population cried out. The press made noise about it. The administration stepped in, and the area was cleared of the dangerous tankers.But in the Ndobo case, government seems to have closed its eyes and ears to the hues and cries of the people there.
The unscrupulous businessman is walking freely minding his business as usual.
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