Contrite Hearts

It's always the same storyline. A community or a group of people within a region get ill. This time we are in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. They have the same symptoms, this time respiratory complaints. Several deaths are reported and more follow after a couple of weeks. Local leaders get concerned, doctors are overwhelmed and the people are angry. The complaints started after items were mysterious dumped at different spots in the city. In this case, it is toxic waste derived from crude oil. Fingers are pointed and lawyers are hired. A thread emerges when a loose end is tugged at. It leads to a corporation, this time based in Europe, and it's called Trafigura.

The legal action by the community in Abidjan ended with a massive payout of about $200 million from Trafigura to Cote d'Ivoire for the dumping of 4oo tonnes of this toxic waste from a vessel named Proabo Koala. Trafigura's statement, that accompanied the compensation, denied responsibility over the actual act of illegal dumping, but only accepted ownership of the toxic cargo until handing over to an unscrupulous Ivorian businessman, with no track record of safely handling toxic hydrocarbons, who is now languishing in jail. He was the convenient fall guy. Because he is Ivorian I'm sure that deep in the recesses of his mind and soul he is more remorseful, as the horrific stories of an 18 year old man suddenly dying from a respiratory disease or of women miscarrying creep through the jail cell.



Despite Trafigura flouting all sorts of international regulations on waste handling, and numerous traces of falsified papers no one from the organisation has actually been found guilty of a single crime. The big man never gets touched. But is he well and truly sorry? The co-founder, Eric de Turckheim was repeatedly asked by the bullish Jeremy Paxman of the BBC, "why were you sending toxic waste to Africa?". He kept dodging a direct answer by issuing pseudo-statements on Trafiguras ethical and safe practices and when finally the repetition was exhausted he said, as if he was actually in Abijdan on the fateful day: "these materials were not dangerous for human beings. It was smelly, but not dangerous." Spin.

The vessel, Proabo Koala, was turned away from Amsterdam port during an attempted treatment procedure that resulted in the fire service and safety officials being called in after the foul stench of Mercaptan, one of the most pungent organic chemicals in the world, emanated for miles. If the atrocity happened in Amsterdam, de Turckheim would have paid dearly for the rest of his professional life in a Dutch jail. For Corporate Manslaughter perhaps.

$200 million. The value of a contrite heart and a good night's sleep for the Executives at Trafigura.

Check out:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/13/trafigura-pr-campaign-pollution-ivory-coast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafigura

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8048626.stm