Say “NO” to toxic waste!

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The Prime Minister Hun Sen sent a clear message last Friday that Cambodia would not become a dumping ground for any form of waste, generally referring to toxic waste such as medical waste, bio waste and electronic waste.

Toxic waste can harm people, animals, and plants, whether it ends up in the ground, in streams, or even in the air. Some toxins, such as mercury and lead, persist in the environment for many years and accumulate over time.

It reminds us of the mass hysteria the dumping of some 3,000 tons of 20-year-old sludge highly tainted with extremely toxic mercury. In 1998, some irresponsible, corrupt and inept officials had authorized the shipment of the waste from Taiwan’s Formosa Chemicals to the Kingdom. The Taiwanese freighter Chang Sun docked at the Sihanoukville port to unload highly toxic heavy metal mercury.

The shipping documentation referred to the waste as “cement cake”, and after intense laboratory testing, authorities discovered that the concentrations of mercury were more than 20,000 times above safety limits. It was reported that two men died with symptoms of acute mercury poisoning and several others were affected.

The “hazardous” toxic waste, which are too poisonous and deadly to be buried in landfill or dumpsites in their own country, have been exported to developing countries in collision with corrupt local government officials.

Now, 21 years later, the same issue is re-emerging and being discussed at a high-level cabinet meeting. It is timely to discuss preventive measures before the local people get affected by the imported “toxic” waste, if any.

In the Philippines, in May this year, the government requested the Canadian government to ship back the waste that was exported by a private Canadian company to the Philippines between 2013 and 2014. Though the waste were marked as recyclable materials, they contained some 2,500 tons of household waste, including plastic bottles and used adult diapers.

Also, in May this year, Malaysia sent back approximately 3,000 tons of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.