Massive stocks of ammonium nitrate at the port of Dakar worry Senegal

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2 min

In Senegal, concern is growing following the explosions of ammonium nitrate which ravaged Beirut. 3,000 tonnes of the same substance, used to manufacture fertilizer or explosives, are stored in the autonomous port of Dakar, in the heart of the Senegalese capital.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Dakar, Théa Ollivier

Dakar residents have been worried since learning that more than 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate are stored on pallets in front of Malian warehouses in the port of Dakar. The information has been confirmed by the high commander at the autonomous port of Dakar, Ibrahima Badji. He even went there to provide details and reassure the populations.

A census of chemical depots

Of the total quantity present in the port, 350 tonnes have already been evacuated. The owner of this stock was ordered to remove the cargo without delay outside the capital. He would have found a storage site in Diamniadio, a new town about forty kilometers from Dakar. But he is still waiting for the approval of the Ministry of the Environment to make this transfer. The timeframe for the environmental and social impact study, as well as the study of the danger, may be very long, even several months.

In the Council of Ministers on Wednesday August 20, Senegalese President Macky Sall asked the Ministers of the Interior and the Environment to implement a national plan to identify, audit and secure deposits of dangerous chemicals.

►Also read: Explosions in Beirut: what is ammonium nitrate?

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• Senegal
• Environment