oneworldtalk

Alarm at toxic mine deal

November 8, 2009

AN AUSTRALIAN mining company caught up in war crimes allegations in Africa is about to sign off on a deal that will tie it to a British firm responsible for dumping toxic chemical waste that has killed or affected thousands of people.

The alliance has sparked calls from aid groups for the Rudd Government to tighten controls over the way Australian companies operate overseas.

Controversy has dogged Trafigura after hundreds of tonnes of sulphur-contaminated toxic waste were dumped cheaply in landfills and ditches in Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast. Thousands of people became ill and several died.

Trafigura attempted to silence reporting of its role in one of the worst pollution scandals in recent history by issuing what was called a super-injunction to stifle reports on its actions in the British Parliament. Eventually it handed over $60 million to compensate 31,000 Africans.

Last week the compensation money was frozen amid claims by lawyers that "blatant corruption" in Africa could mean the money would never reach the victims.

Meanwhile, Perth-based Anvil Mining's record in the Congo has been tarnished after it handed over the keys to its mining vehicles to the local army, unaware they would be used in the rape and killing of at least 70 civilians in 2004.

Three Anvil employees were charged and cleared of complicity in war crimes.

But a subsequent United Nations report raised questions about Anvil's links to Katumba Mwanke, an adviser to Congo President Joseph Kabila. Mr Mwanke represented the Government on the Anvil board of directors for three years.

Unlike other Australian mining companies operating overseas, Anvil has so far refused to sign the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, designed to prevent dodgy deals.



http://www.smh.com.au/environment/alarm-at-toxic-mine-deal-20091107-i2tj.html