"The information from Somalia is very preliminary and we are currently in discussions with the transitional government and other UN organisations about sending a proper fact-finding mission," said Nick Nutall, Unep's head of media. "We hope to be there within weeks. But this will depend on security clearance from the UN headquarters," he added.

 The mission will seek to establish the scale of the devastation highlighted in a rapid assessment report done earlier by the Unep Asian Tsunami Task Force. The report titled, After the Tsunami; Rapid Environmental Assessment, highlights the impact on the environment of countries bordering the Indian Ocean. When the tsunami hit the 3,898km coastline on December 26, last year, it "stirred up hazardous waste deposits on beaches around North Hobyo (South Mudug) and Warsheik (North of Benadir)," said the report.

 The Task Force's findings on Somalia come at a time when it is suspected that some companies from Europe and the US have dumped radioactive waste in some parts of NorthEastern Province of Kenya. Though the issue has aroused public interest, the government is yet to release the report compiled recently by the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) on the matter.

Unep's team to Somalia has been held back by the security situation in the country, forcing the team to undertake a "desk study" from the safety of its Nairobi office.

However, the team was able to establish that Somalia's coastline "has been used as a dumping ground for other countries' nuclear and hazardous wastes for many years." Those dumping the waste have capitalised on the long civil war in Somalia, which has had no central government since the 1991 ouster of the late dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, and "the consequent inability of the authorities to police shipments or handle the wastes," says the report.

Besides the waste, Somalia's coast has also been receiving shiploads of industrial, hospital, chemical, leather treatment and other toxic waste. "Most of the waste was simply dumped on the beaches in containers and disposable leaking barrels without regard to the health of the local population and any environmentally devastating impacts," the report says.

However, Unep falls short of naming the corporate culprits responsible for the dumping of the radioactive waste. It simply says, "European firms are known to be engaged in the business of dumping hazardous waste in Africa."

Apparently, Africa is preferred because it offers a cheaper alternative. The report estimates that it costs as little as $2.50 per tonne to dump hazardous waste in Africa while it costs up to $250 in Europe.

Following the tsunami, communities along the Somali coast are now said to be experiencing a number of serious ailments. "Many people have complained of unusual health problems as a result of the winds blowing towards inland villages," says the report.

The ailments include acute respiratory infections, dry heavy coughing and mouth bleeding, abdominal haemorrhages and unusual skin chemical reactions. Others are dry heavy coughing, acute respiratory infections and sudden deaths after inhaling toxic materials.

The current situation along the Somali coastline poses a very serious environment hazard, not only in Somalia but also in the East Africa sub-region," it noted. But probably because of the social disorder in Somalia, the full effect to the people, livelihoods and the environment would have gone unnoticed were it not for the Unep's task force, which went out to assist governments to assess and respond to the environmental impacts of the disaster.

Dumping of nuclear waste, the report says, began as early as the 1980s, when president Barre was still in power. "Starting from the early 1980s and continuing into the civil war, the hazardous waste dumped along Somalia's coast comprised uranium radioactive waste, lead, cadmium and mercury," says the report.

 Besides these wastes, Somalia's coast has also been receiving shiploads of industrial, hospital, chemical, leather treatment and other toxic waste.

This dumping, the report says, is not only morally wrong but is also a "violation" of international treaties.