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Nigeria to impose import duties to stem influx of junk PCs
Lagos (AFP) Feb 7, 2008 Nigeria is to introduce import duties to stem the influx of substandard and unserviceable computers, electrical and electronic appliances posing health and environmental hazards in the country. Nigerians are becoming increasingly fed up with what experts have described as "junk" imported second-hand computers, electrical appliances and cell phones which are flooding Africa's most populous country from Europe, Asia and the United States. Information Minister John Odey said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the government was worried about the development and has decided to stem the tide. "They are now classified as e-wastes and these scraps are now being imported into Nigeria and cannibalised to fix others," he said. "They are bringing them in droves because they are classified as educational materials which attract zero duty," he added. He said a committee headed by the finance minister will soon announce a date for the implementation of the new tariff. Last year, an American NGO, Basel Action Network, published a report in which it said that some 500 containers of 400,000 second-hand computers are emptied monthly in Apapa seaport in Lagos. In Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city with some 15 million people, hundreds of computers and accessories change hands daily in the fast-growing Ikeja "Computer Village" market. Experts say the development is posing health and environmental hazards because of substances contained in them such as lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame-retardants. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up
MIT Program Aims To Monitor Air And Water Quality Around The Globe
Boston MA (SPX) Feb 06, 2008Researchers from MIT and two Singaporean universities met on January 24-25 for an inaugural workshop to launch a bold new international research program called CENSAM. The program will develop pervasive environmental sensor networks to collect data on parameters such as air and water quality from many sources, and use this data to provide accurate, real-time monitoring, modeling and control of the environment. |
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