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CHRISTOPHER MUNNION, The Daily Telegraph

"The record of hazardous waste disposal in Africa is dismal," said Bobby Peek, of the Environmental Justice Networking Forum in South Africa. "It is the typical old colonial attitude . . . Africa is still open as a toxic dump for the developed world."

The forum is working with Greenpeace International and other groups to try to enforce the 1989 Basle Convention to control trade and disposal of hazardous waste to prevent Africa "becoming the world's rubbish dump".

Mr Peek said that many of the poorer African countries, especially those recovering from wars and civil conflict, were susceptible to offers from wealthier nations to accept waste, but had not the resources, regulations or technology to control the hazards involved.

The plan to ship New York City's domestic rubbish to Namibia was part of a tender submitted by a consortium which included Enviroserve, a South African waste disposal firm.

The rubbish was to be unloaded at Walvis Bay, Namibia's main port, whose municipal authorities were interested in using it in an electricity-generation plant. Under international pressure, the Namibian government blocked the proposal. "We are no longer considering this project," said Alistair McLean, chief executive officer of Enviroserve.

Environmentalists are also concerned about another project in which Enviroserve is involved, to collect 200 tons of obsolete pesticides which are scattered throughout Mozambique posing a major health hazard to rural people and incinerate them in the capital, Maputo.

Danida, the Danish government development agency, is sponsoring the project, backed by the Mozambique government.

The pesticides, many now banned as toxic, have been rotting since before Mozambique's 20-year civil war.

Environmentalists say that burning them is known to create dangerous, cancer-causing compounds, such as dioxins and furans.

"Mozambique is being asked to suffer twice," said Mr Peek. "First they have been given very dangerous pesticides and now they are being given dangerous technology to deal with them.

"The installation of dangerous incinerator technology in one of the world's poorest countries provides all the incentives for promoting illegal trade in toxic wastes," said Mr Peek.

Enviroserve maintains that the project is the largest clean-up of redundant chemicals in Africa. "It would be helpful if the environment groups would suggest alternative ways of disposing of the pesticides," said a company spokesman.