The civil war introduced brutal killings, widespread rapes and displacements among other factors that accustomed citizens to living in constant fear. Droughts and occasional floods are natural phenomena that devastate both habitat and lives, but last December's tsunami seems to have brought the worst devastation so far, way beyond the physical destruction of entire Somali coastal communities.
The loss of lives and property, while it brought help from the international community, also exposed health complaints and the likelihood of an environmental disaster in the making. The talk in Mogadishu now is of friends and relatives who are seeking treatment for what is locally known as the kadudiye, literally meaning shrunken body sickness.
Sufferers are said to experience pain, fever and immobile limbs. The public's concern was backed by reputable institutions like the UN Environmental Programme, Unep , which warned that the tsunami may have unearthed and exposed toxic chemicals held in containers buried in the ocean. Some of the containers now litter the beaches with their contents long washed out by the tide or blown away by the wind.
Medics in Mogadishu are however yet to make a link between the kadudiye sickness and toxic poisoning. It is indeed hard to ignore reports that the tsunami brought to shore containers that might have once held toxic waste. Expert information so far points at the likelihood of the containers having held poisonous agents like heavy metals, radioactive and chemical waste.
Some volunteer organisations in Somalia like the National Seamen Association NSA have recently expressed concerns over the deteriorating environment. NSA officials claim they have received reports of marine animals being washed ashore with damage to soft tissues like eyes and gills. Fishermen are also complaining of diminished catches. The NSA also claims that divers have on a number of occasions spotted sealed, containers buried in the seabed secured with chains and anchors.
