Call to stop dumping in Africa's waters
The illicit dumping of toxic and hazardous waste off the coast of Somalia, which has largely destroyed the fishing grounds there, has been cited as one of the root causes of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Africa, according to a report carried in Polity.
A report published by Polity says that armed fishermen had been trying to ward off ships that had been identified as polluting the coastlines but this had not stopped the practice and resulted in these armed fishermen attacking the ships and then hijacking them instead.
Delegates at the Maritime & Coastal Security Africa conference held in Cape Town recently were told that there is a lamentable dearth of knowledge with regard to dumping of hazardous waste in the oceans surrounding Africa.
Polity says that there is a lack of environmental protection legislation in Africa despite the fact that a significant proportion of people on the continent are reliant on fish for their daily sustenance.
For more:
