Somalis call for help to clean up hazardous waste

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Somali members of parliament called on Saturday for international help to clean up tons of hazardous waste dislodged by the Asian tsunami, which they say is causing breathing problems and skin infections in Somalia.

The tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean, killed an estimated 300,000 people in 11 countries most of them in Asia. About 300 people were killed in Somalia by the after shocks.

A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report released last month said the tsunami had dislodged hazardous materials in Somalia, which for years had been used as a dumping ground by other countries for their nuclear waste.

The report said the dumping was made easier by the break down of law and order in Somalia after the overthrow of military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

“The earthquake hit the coastline of Somalia and threw out ... containers containing toxic waste,” MP Awad Ahmed Ashra told a news conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi

“There are several reports of a wide range of medical problems like abdominal hemorrhage, and unusual skin disorders,” he said.

The MPs accused European firms of dumping toxic waste like uranium, mercury and lead in Somalia for more than a decade, but they did not name any companies. 

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