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

126Greenpeace Belgium; International Environment Reporter, April 1989, p. 184.
Belgian Royal Decree of February 9, 1976, which defines what is
considered “toxic waste.” The waste came primarily from the
chemical and pharmaceutical industries. 126
Scheme: S.O.P./Palmero
Date: 1988
Type of Waste: Hazardous
Source: Southern Germany
Exporter: Sondermuell Organisation und Problemloesung
Pretext/Fate: Dumping, Over USD 7 Million Per Year
Status: Abandoned ?
In 1988, a Stuttgart waste disposal firm, Sondermuell
Organisation und Problemloesung (S.O.P.) owned by Austrian
businessman Rainer Deyhle, negotiated with Mauritanian
politicians for the disposal of 40,000 to 100,000 tons per month
of hazardous waste from southern Germany.
The negotiations were carried out by two Madrid lawyers, Mr.
Palmero and Mr. Sainz. The Mauritanian consul general in the
Canary Islands, Mohamed Lemine Ould Moulaye Zeine,
established contact with the politicians. According to waste trade
brokers, the following politicians were allegedly contacted by
Palmero on May 16 and 17 and consented to the scheme:
Mohamed Ishaq Ould Rajel, secretary-general and
representative of the Ministry for Industry and Mining and the
Ministry for Energy and Hydraulic Engineering;
Baha Aliou, secretary-general to the Mauritanian State
Department;
Mohamed Muahmad Ould Mohamed Val, director of the
European section of the State Department;
Soumare Oumar, Minister of Energy and Hydraulic
Engineering; and
Colonel Brahim Oul Alianne N’Diaye, vice-president of the
military committee which has been the official government of
Mauritania since 1979.
Brahim, holding the key position in Mauritanian politics as well
as in the planned scheme, would have received a lump sum of 1
million Deutschmarks (about USD 600,000). Lemine would
have received a lump sum of 81,000 Deutschmarks (about USD
50,000) and 24,000 Deutschmarks (about USD 15,000) annually.
The consul general would have received a lump sum of 32,000
Deutschmarks (about USD 20,000) and “several little presents
per year.” The lawyer would have received a lump sum of
113,000 Deutschmarks (about USD 69,000) and 65,000
Deutschmarks (about USD 40,000) per year. The Mauritanian
government would have officially earned 15 Deutschmarks
(about USD 9) per ton of waste, and was guaranteed a minimum
67