Ivory Coast Gvn. Quits After Toxic Waste Dumping Kills 3, Sickens 1,500

[hatrack]

YAMOUSSOUKRO/ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast's government resigned on Wednesday after toxic waste dumped around the main city Abidjan killed three people, made 1,500 ill and triggered street protests. Interim Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny offered the resignation of his cabinet to President Laurent Gbagbo during an emergency meeting in the political capital Yamoussoukro which had been meant to work out a response to the crisis.

EDIT

Authorities said the pungent waste which contained hydrogen sulphide was unloaded from a Panamanian-registered ship at Abidjan port on Aug. 19 and then dumped in at least eight sites around the densely populated lagoon-side city. Hundreds of residents have complained of nausea, sore chests, vomiting and diarrhoea, doctors said.

"The situation is very serious. That is why I am presenting you with the government's resignation," Banny said.

Ivory Coast, split between a rebel-held north and government-run south after a brief 2002-2003 civil war, was already heading towards a political crisis with long-delayed presidential elections due at the end of October set to be postponed again.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/37989/story.htm

[eppur_se_muova]

1. So...their gov't is corrupt and three people died...IS THAT ALL??

Hell, look what we've got over here and in Iraq ... do Ivorian politicians just remember what shame is, while ours do not? I WISH ours would resign over something as minor as a little H2S.