POPs IN AFRICA HAZARDOUS WASTE TRADE 1980 - 2000 ... - Arte

and Natural Resources, Josiah Kimemia, explained his country’s
position on waste dumping in Africa by stating that “there should
be a total ban on the importation or dumping of hazardous
wastes.” He emphasized that the appropriate method to deal with
wastes is to minimize its production and dispose any that is
produced in the country of origin.” 101
However, in a report in May 1989, the Xinhua news agency
reported that a senior Kenyan government official said that his
country was planning, with the help of the Atomic Energy
Agency, to import toxic and radioactive materials for disposal.
An official said that boats entering Malindi Port were being
investigated for toxic and radioactive imports and the
government was searching for a permanent site for dumping the
materials. It is unlikely that such waste imports were ever
officially approved by the Kenyan government, especially since
the introduction of the Lomé Convention and directives of the
Organization of African Unity. 102
Waste import schemes: Scheme: Petry
Date: 1989
Type of Waste: Industrial waste, filter dust
Origin: West Germany
Exporter: Disposal companies
Pretext/Fate: Incineration as “substitute fuels”, construction
material
Status: died ?
101Xinhua, January 31, 1989.
102Xinhua English Language News Service, May 2, 1989; Greenpeace.
103 Nairobi Standard’s City News Editor Harun Wandalo, Greenpeace Germany
In September 1989, Joachim Petry, a West German business
consultant working in Nairobi made an offer to various German
companies to dispose of industrial waste and filter dusts from
incineration in salt deserts, recycling facilities, and cement kilns
in various “Indian and African states”, among them Kenya and
Zaire. “Fuel substitute” was to be free of charge for the receiver.
Petry intended to charge the generator / disposer DM 20/metric
tonne (USD 15). He demanded “about 300,000” marks (USD
225,000) from his European partners to be able “to bribe”, as he
said, African officials to get the import permits.
Petry’s partner in Nairobi was Damco Agencies Ltd - Agents of
hardware & cements, Moktar Daddah str, Islamia House opp.
Jevanjee Gardens, he said. Executive Director David M. Gitao
was the vice president of the Kenyan Chamber of Industry and
Commerce at that time, he added.
According to the newspaper Nairobi Standard, Petry was shot
dead on September 23, 1990 in Nairobi “in the street”. 103
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