POPs IN AFRICA HAZARDOUS WASTE TRADE 1980 - 2000 ... - Arte
POPs IN AFRICA HAZARDOUS WASTE TRADE 1980 - 2000 ... - Arte
POPs IN AFRICA HAZARDOUS WASTE TRADE 1980 - 2000 ... - Arte
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LIBERIA<br />
BASEL LOMÉ IV / COTONOU BAMAKO<br />
Party Signatory<br />
National policy: The country of Liberia, as a party to the Lomé Convention,<br />
totally bans waste shipments to its territory.<br />
In July 1988, Liberian Minister of Health Martha Belleh said that<br />
she was developing a code of conduct regarding waste trades. A<br />
National Coordinating Committee would be established that<br />
would evaluate all waste imports based on this code.<br />
In May 1989, the Liberian minister of Lands, Mines and Energy,<br />
William Freeman, declared that African countries must enact<br />
laws to protect their environment against toxic and other<br />
hazardous wastes. At a workshop financed by the United<br />
Nations Center on Transnational Corporations and organized by<br />
the Liberian government, Freeman asked European and North<br />
American countries to ban the export of hazardous waste. He also<br />
called on African governments to abide by the Organization of<br />
African Unity’s 1988 resolution which condemns the use of their<br />
territories as a dumping ground for hazardous waste. “We must<br />
act together so that the future of our land, waste and people is<br />
secure,” he said. 108<br />
On August 3, 1989, Liberia banned the import of hazardous<br />
wastes. Under the new law, anyone convicted of importing<br />
wastes will be imprisoned for a 10 to 25 years, and any vessels or<br />
aircraft used for waste trade will be confiscated. 109<br />
Waste import schemes: Scheme: Redell Development<br />
Date: 1988<br />
Type of Waste: Any Kind of Hazardous Waste<br />
Source: UK<br />
Exporter: Redell Development (Possibly Randell Development<br />
Corp.)<br />
Pretext/Fate: Dumping, $800 Per Ton<br />
Status: Unclear<br />
108Xinhua English Language News Service, May 9, 1989, Item #:184.<br />
109HazNews, October, 1989.<br />
Responding to reports of alleged toxic waste dumping by British<br />
firms, the Liberian government sent out a scouting team to locate<br />
dumpsites in their country. The British Ambassador to Liberia,<br />
Michael Gore, also claimed to be concerned about the dumping<br />
and initiated another investigation into illegal waste trade from<br />
the UK<br />
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