By Kemo Cham
The Sierra Leone government has secured a landmark ruling against the Bo-based soap manufacturer, Kabakudu, accused of violating environmental protection laws thereby endangering the health and wellbeing of the people.
Eleven officials and workers of Kabakudu Soap Making Factory were convicted and sentenced on Friday at the Bo Magistrate Court.
The Kabakudu Soap is locally produced from sodium hydrochloride which environmentalists say has significant health risks on people and the environment.
The case was championed by the Environment Protection Agency Sierra Leone (EPA-SL).
A press statement issued by the Directorate of Public Relations and Intersectorial Collaboration within the agency said all eleven accused persons pleaded guilty for operating the factory in violation of the relevant laws, thereby compromising the integrity of the environment.
The men were arrested for illegally operating despite an enforcement notice issued by the Sierra Leone Police to shut down the company’s production centers following complaints of the hazardous effect of their activities. The notice was jointly signed by the Paramount Chief of Kakua Chiefdom, the Bo City Council, the Bo District Council, the District Medical Officer, and the EPA-SL at a strategic environmental disaster meeting held earlier in July. It followed a complaint letter from the Ministry of Environment and the EPA, requesting the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to intervene to help address the situation.
The issue was also reportedly discussed at a Provincial Security meeting, where the decision to halt the activities of the company was taken.
Environmentalists say a major concern about the company’s activities was that all its processing centers were situated within residential areas with people exposed to air pollution as a result of open burning of palm oil, oil spillage, toxic and hazardous chemicals. They also said that the workers who make the soap carry out their work under circumstances that exposed them to serious health hazards like skin cancer, lung diseases, and impotency, due to the failure of the owners to provide them personal protection equipment.
The environmental hazard also meant that a huge part of the population within their operating area, who rely on borehole water courses for their water needs, are forced to consume polluted water due to the toxic chemicals used in the production process.
“Ecologically, the activities of this so called industry also pose significant risks to wetlands which are targeted as dump sites thereby putting at risk the ecosystem in that part of the country, leading to biodiversity loss and drastic reduction of essential ecosystem services,” the statement from EPA said.
The suspects were charged on three counts for operating without a valid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) License, acting contrary to an enforcement notice, and the discharge of toxic and hazardous substance into the air or in or under the land.
Eight of the convicts were fined each Le 1 million, to be paid latest September 2nd , 2020 or serve eighteen (18) months imprisonment. The other three convicts were each fined Le2 million, to be paid latest September 2nd, 2020 or go for eighteen (18) months in prison.
As part of its ruling, the court past three additional orders to the owners of Kabakudu, including the order to relocate their factory outside the Bo municipality and to stop all operations in the production of its soap until it secures an Environmental Impact Assessment License. The company was also ordered to clean up its current operation areas, under the supervision of the EPA-SL and the Sierra Leone Police, latest on September 15, 2020.
EPA said it had exhausted all available channels over the past two years to get the company comply with relevant environmental laws to be able to manage their operations within acceptable environmental standards, but that inhibiting factors acted as “significant road block.”
“The court verdict is a big win for the Agency and the broader environmental protection. It goes to say that no one can destroy the environment and get away with it,” EPA said in its statement.
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