Cimentos de Moçambique - the Toxic Cloud of Dust Continues

Friends, I am on a mission. I may need your help, though, because while I have a good idea of how to act on this particular issue, I never underestimate the power of the blogosphere and your multiple and unexpected connections.

Here's the deal:

About 1 mile from the Banana Empire Headquarters in Matola, there is a cement factory run by one of the country's largest businesses, Cimentos de Moçambique. Every day, there is a disgusting plume of pollution billowing out of the factory. While certainly not the ideal situation, I accept that some industrial operations cannot function without a certain level of pollutants and noxious byproducts being generated; I just usually assume that there is some sort of procedure in place for dealing with said pollution, or that the company runs a social or environmental program somewhere that offsets what they are spewing into the air on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, Cimentos de Moçambique does not stop just at the daily column of pollution rising out of the factory. No, my friends, this company does a massive belching-out-of-toxic-dust once a week. They literally release a cloud of cement particules and God knows what else into the air that is so dense that it filters the sun and makes it look overcast and nasty outside.

The first time I witnessed said major-pollution-dump, I was at the office and the warehouse boys called and told me to look out my window. When they told me what was causing the hazy white-gray sky, I literally couldn't believe my ears.

Over the holidays, when the cleaning of the office became a bit lax, the dust that settled in the nooks and crannies of our filing cabinets and desks, once affected by the super humid air of this region of Moz, actually began to solidify and turn into something resembling grout! If the cement residues that are released from Cimentos de Moçambique transform in this manner inside my closed office 1 mile away from the factory, imagine what they are not doing, for example, to the lungs of the people working for that company!

So here's the thing: Cimentos de Moçambique's majority owner is Cimentos de Portugal, CIMPOR, a company that is listed on the Euronext Lisbon stock exchange, and prominently professes on their homepage to "adopt concepts of sustainable development in an economic, social and environmental way, respecting scrupulously a serie [sic] of ethical values".

Excuse me?? I see tangible evidence on a constant basis that this statement is complete bullshit. Or, perhaps this ethical, politically correct mission statement is only applicable for operations in Europe, where there are consequences and fines to pay for the blatant disregard of environmental and human welfare?

I am certainly not the first person to complain about the dust released from the ciment factory in Matola. I have heard many Mozambicans lamenting the pollution from the company, and concerned about the effects this may have on their own health. But it is always with an air of resignation, which I totally understand, because honestly, what on earth can one feasibly do to stop such things in a country where laws are poorly enforced, officials can be bought off, and the price of "development" is many times readily accepted as a necessary ill on the path to prosperity. [To be fair, this kind of thing is also an uphill battle in a country with a funcitonal judiciary system and strictly enforced environmental regulations...]

Unfortunately, this problem has been ongoing. In September 2003, at the Mozambican Foro Empresarial para o Meio Ambiente (Business Forum for the Environment), the Director of Production for Cimentos de Moçambique, one Engenheiro José Machado, spoke about the environmental challenges of producing construction materials. After his presentation, the audience presented a series of questions regarding their collective concern about the dust clouds coming from the factory. His response was that the company has dust collection filters, however given the constant oscillations in the supply of electricity in Mozambique, the filters are not effective. The Engineer then commented about the company's dedication to training, and summed it up by saying that "cement is the barometer of development." [See transcript from the Forum here, in Portuguese.]

I'm sorry, but I find it wildly difficult to believe that in the past 5 years Cimentos de Moçambique hasn't been able to find a better solution to their filter problem...

I plan on photographing the toxic cloud that is released from Cimentos de Moçambique. I want to send the photos and a description of what this company is doing to some sort of watchdog group. I'd also like to send my information to the management of the Mozambican and the Portuguese operations, because if they are not motivated by a concern for the environment, perhaps they will be spurred to act to avoid a PR fallout. I mean, it's not exactly a positive thing for your investors and shareholders to hear that you are content to operate in your ex-colony in such a hypocritcal and damaging manner...

Not to mention the fact that as a "breather" of Matola's air, I'd like to avoid the possibility of my lungs turning to cement!

So, friends, any suggestions of places where I can send my information? Greenpeace? Is there some sort of Environmental Ethics watchdog group in Portugal? Please send me your ideas...