Compensation at Risk as Ivory Coast Toxic Victims Differ on Payment
Toxic Waste in Abidjan
$45 million in compensation is at stake, intended for about 30,000 victims of an oil-based sludge dumped off the coast of Abidjan, the Ivory Coast’s capital, in 2006 as thousands of victims of one of the worst toxic dumping scandals in years could lose their hard-won settlement because of disagreement on payment disbursement amongst victim groups. An international commodities trading giant, Trafigura, shipped the waste to the West African Country. In an out of court settlement, the company agreed to compensate the government of the Ivory Coast about $200 million in 2007, then settled separately with the victims in September of this year. But now the money, frozen in a local bank, has been claimed by a largely self-appointed community representative named Claude Gohourou.
Gohourou is reportedly representing only a fraction of the victims, about 1,500 of them. There seems to be a real risk that millions of dollars destined for the victims would simply disappear into undeserving pockets as lawyers who represent the victims are claiming that officials in Ivory Coast’s Judiciary and Financial sector are tampering with the payment procedures and are requesting a slice of the settlement in order to give payment clearance. Two weeks before the money was to be distributed. A court in Abidjan froze the sums deposited by Trafigura after Mr. Gohourou claimed that he was the one who started the proceedings against the company. The prosecutor in Abidjan has recommended that the “entirety of the funds” be transferred to Mr. Gohourou’s organization. The Ivorian court will now decide whether to follow that recommendation.
It seems behind Gohourou is a highly influential figure who offered to clear up the roadblocks to the money’s distribution the lawyers representing the victims are claiming. Martyn Day, senior partner of Leigh Day,the firm representing the victims said in a statement filed in British courts Wednesday. “I of course refused to have anything to do with such blatant corruption.” “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “Mr. Big is clearly pretty big. The whole scene makes me feel extremely nervous that our claimants will never see a penny of their damages.”
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