|
|
Kenya's 'Erin Brockovich' defies harassment to bring anti-pollution case to courts
Watts, Jonathan
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article43212http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/14/kenyas-erin-brockovich-defies-harassment-to-bring-anti-pollution-case-to-courts Date Written: 2018-02-14 Publisher: Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières Year Published: 2018 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX22130 Phyllis Omido is leading a landmark class action demanding a clean-up and compensation from a lead-smelting factory accused of poisoning local residents - including her own son. Abstract: - Excerpt: Eight years after her baby was lead-poisoned through breast milk, Kenya's most prominent anti-pollution campaigner is set to finally get her day in court in a case that the UN hopes will prove a landmark for environmental defenders across Africa. Phyllis Omido has been threatened by thugs, arrested by police and forced into hiding for organising opposition to a lead-smelting factory in Mombasa, which allegedly poisoned residents in the neighbouring shantytown of Owino Uhuru. But the NGO she founded, the Centre for Justice, Governance, and Environmental Action, has already forced the closure of the plant and is now pushing the courts to secure compensation for the victims and a clean-up of the community. Subject Headings |