Deadly legacy

THE scars left by industrial pollution
have failed to heal in Sumgait, a former
industrial city located near Azerbaijan's
capital, Baku. Plans to repair the dam
age done to the city's ecology and
economy have remained on paper due
to interference from the industrial
lobby and some politicians.

Sumgait was known as the 'dead
zone' in the 1980s when 32 chemicals
and, metals plants emitted 120,000
tonnes of waste a year and 36 of every
1,000 babies died before they were a
year old. As most of the plants began
closing down following the collapse of
the Soviet Union, the International
Monetary Fund suggested evacuating
the population of 330,000 and deserting Sumgait entirely. The plan was
rejected and most of the people have
stayed on without any work. The infant
mortality rate is nearly three times that
of the US. A project devised by the UN to
transform the city into a 'special economic zone' has been languishing in
the Parliament for a year now. The
industrial lobby has been strongly
opposing it as the project would ham-
per their illegal interests, says Paolo
Lembo, the UN resident coordinator for
Azerbaijan.