Luka Suon
Sociology 202- Current Events
posted October 23, 2008 at 3:19 p.m.
A Nigerian man was sentenced by an Ivory Coast court to twenty years for the 2006 dumping of toxic waste from an international oil trader that resulted in the deaths of sixteen people. The charges brought against him included poisoning and manslaughter. The sentence came about on Wednesday. The event happened near the capital of Abidjan, and French crews could only handle the material safely after donning gas masks. Other agencies and companies, including one from the Netherlands, were charged with involvement in the tragedy. The Dutch company, Trafigura, has paid $ 197 million (in U.S. dollars) to help out in the clean up efforts but is still culpable in the matter. Defense lawyers for the Nigerian man maintain he is just the whipping boy for the government, the scapegoat for the other companies who are just as blameworthy as anyone else.
The corporate top-dogs in this mess, regardless of nationality, find it convenient to put the little man in the spotlight and hope they get away with much while paying their bit with false lip worship. They aren't sorry at all; they're sorry they're "caught", or in a better case caught that they're being accused. Sounds a bit befuddling, but that's what I mean. These sleazebags are trying to maintain an air of innocence. I'm not saying that Nigerian man is innocent, he's just as guilty as the rest, but let them share equal culpability. Otherwise, there is a sense of elite preference even among the guilty.
Links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081023/ap_on_re_af/af_ivory_coast_toxic_waste;_ylt=AszKFEqPWbDwRDzvFTfoydRvaA8F
1 comment:
I agree, this man is being used as a scapegoat for the company to take the heat off of them. $197 million is a lot of money even for an oil company, but they should have to accept higher saftey standards and worker training to protect people and the environment from such catastrophies.
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