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CAMBODIA BECOMING WASTE DUMP FOR ASIAN COUNTRIES

by Michiharu Honda, Yomiuri Shimbun

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, 15 February 2000 -- A Japanese company was recently exposed as having illegally exported waste to the Philippines in contravention of the Basel Convention, which regulates cross-border transportation of hazardous waste. In this case, the 2,700 tons of mostly toxic medical waste had to be shipped back to Japan at the expense of the Japanese government, after the president of the garbage processing company disappeared. But the incident revealed the fact that waste labeled as material for recycling can be transported from metropolitan areas to regional cities and thence to developing countries with relative ease. Similar illegal practices apparently occur in other Asian countries, with hazardous waste being shuffled from wealthy countries to developing nations. Cambodia is one of the countries currently being treated as a dumping ground.

The port city of Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia has become a refuse disposal site for other Asian countries. Used cassette tape recorders and old tires have been dumped there without permission, and local authorities have failed to act to control this problem.

In November 1998, a plastics manufacturer based in Gaoxiong, Taiwan, shipped a large quantity of mercury-laden waste to Cambodia. The company was supposed to mix the poisonous waste with concrete, to form solid blocks. Instead, about 3,000 tons of crumbly waste ended up in an open pit near the port, posing a threat to the water supply.

Local residents were not informed of the danger of organic mercury poisoning, which was the cause of Minamata disease. Some people even took away the vinyl bags in which the toxic waste was packed and used them to store rice. Others sprinkled the waste on farmland as a fertilizer.

Although no causal relationship has yet been proved, a local worker died after cleaning out the tanks of the ship in which the waste was carried. Other residents noticed their skin breaking out in sores.

Local authorities removed the waste last spring, but even now, the dump emits an offensive odor that resembles the smell of burned plastic.

A 36-year-old woman who lives near the dump said, "I am in constant fear of the toxic waste every day." She herself had taken plastic bags from the site to use in the construction of her makeshift home.

After suffering several bouts of severe stomach pain she stopped using the well near the dump because experts pointed out that the water might contain mercury. Instead, she uses a well several kilometers away, but her stomach pains have persisted. She says most of those living near the dump are suffering from poor health.

The customs house at the port itself is responsible for controlling shipments of waste into the area. But it is said that foreign companies who wish to bring waste into Cambodia simply bribe officials to accept the waste.

Taking discarded tires as an example, a customs official said, "On paper, they are used for automobiles in Cambodia." But on being questioned further, he admitted that they were just garbage, because they were too damaged to be used.

One of the judges at the Sihanoukville district court deplored the present situation, saying, "If there is a customs official who connives at the dumping of waste, we have no law to control him."

Cambodia does not have strong enough laws to control illegal dumping of industrial waste that harms the environment. Foreign companies take advantage of the lawless situation and abandon all sorts of waste in the port city.

The judge added, "Cambodia is a poor country, but is not a waste dump for the world."

But foreign companies have difficulty with waste treatment in their own countries, so they continue to dump waste in Sihanoukville. So far, about 800 tons of old cassette recorders imported from South Korea have been abandoned on open ground.

 

FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a `fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond `fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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