Ivory Coast residents deplore dust, pollution from Abidjan cement plants
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Buildings, trees, and the clothes and skin of residents covered with dust ... For several months, a thick, white blanket has fallen on Treichville, a neighbourhood next to cement factories in Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan.
The FRANCE 24 Observers team were able to speak with several residents of the area, including representatives of youth associations in Treichville.
They singled out one cement factory in particular, belonging to the Cim Metal group and operating in the Treichville port area since November 2018. In early 2019, nearly 2,000 local residents signed a petition that was sent to the Environment Ministry, citing environmental and health concerns. Since January 2021, local residents and associations have turned to social media to share videos and images of dust coming from the plant.
One of the representatives of these local associations, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, explained:
What we see on a daily basis are dust particles that come from the silos and seem to come directly from the latest cement plant installed in 2018 near Boulevard de Marseille. The letters and petitions from local residents aim to bring up health problems [Editor's note: the documents mention cases of repeated bronchitis, rhinitis or allergies], but nothing has changed.