Ghana: A Week in a Toxic Waste Dump

[Music] they say to understand a person you have to walk a mile in their shoes so that's exactly what I'm going to do Ghana is the country where my parents were born I've been to the capital OFA dozens of times but this visit will be different I'm about to spend a week living and working in one of the most polluted environments on the planet Ghana's notorious waste d ABB [Music] blushy I've been told about a rubbish dump that isn't just a rubbish dump it's um something that's new to me it's an e dump so it's

predominantly electronic waste it's computers it's TVs rubbish that has value recycling West Africa style consumer electronics smashed sorted and valuable Metals extracted this is where technology goes to die I'm heading towards a site that 80,000 people call home and where conditions are so brutal that many people die in their [Music] 20s apparently it's one of the most toxic places on the planet they found cadmium 30 times over acceptable levels levels of lead topped 100 times it is a disaster of mumbl proportions it's been alleged that the rubbish arrives in Ghana from all over the world

including the UK but are we complicit in creating this place and what's life like for the people who eek out a living on [Music] it agul blosi lies on the southern edge of a crra it first sprung up in the late '90s when small amounts of electrical waste started being dumped on a disused flood plane what's going on now this 20 acre toxic graveyard deals in everything from kettles to car parts mobile phones to fridge freezers it feels like there's just oil everywhere you can see it in the water and you can just smell it

in the air I've been told to track down a team of young lads who work as burner boys the people grafting at what is considered to be the bottom of the agog blushy ladder hello what's your name mam how you doing are you the chief yeah you're in charge you're the boss is he in charge they've agreed to put me up for the week in the slum and show me the ropes on the rubbish dump mm are your workers what are their names Miss Rak okay nice to meet nice to meet you Hello nice to

meet you so how how did you will come together as a as a as a team as a Workforce yes in 5 years now where did you come from cuz you're not from a we are we have the from the north uhuh yeah my family is from well I always come to a CR yes but mother's from Sedro and my father's from second D yes so I've never I've never been here before I've never seen this part of a crow before so it's a bit of a shock to [Music] [Applause] me it's snowing Ghana it's

snowing stand to youcome happy birthday new Happy Birthday new [Applause] happy so am I officially part of the team now then yeah I inan so in right now we need to take you to the today so that we can make the fire yes what's thiser copper is this what you're going to bur okay yeah like I'm being put to work straight away the burner boys provide a service cables that have been stripped out of old electrical Goods can be bought to them at the edge of the site to have the plastic burned off this so

if I B it the Rob all move it and leave down proper and that's where the money is yeah it's not pleasant but it's the quickest cheapest way of exposing the raw copper underneath all of these bundles are they yours yes you have to go collect this one come go collect come make fast run so come and how much would this be worth a ball this size how much is this I can f Char like City turn this one turn over yeah so the fire go end of things B it easy the heat that is

coming off of that is insane and so how how many hours a day will you do this for 9 hours 9 hours you'll do this for wow the heat I'm starting to get an idea of just how dangerous what I'm about to do is already like my mouth tastes funny and I'm spitting and I'm trying to get the taste out of my mouth I mean I've been here 5 minutes the boys are paid pennies the odd few notes are a bit of spare copper it pays just enough to buy food but rarely more my boy

come bring it be fast hang on you're burning an air conditioning tank is there copper inside that [ __ ] hell what is it you're using to burn there is that a fridge is that fridge door the vast plumes of thick black smoke are already making me feel uncomfortable it contains potentially lethal dioxins and high quantities of lead I've been told that being here for just one week I'll be fine but in the long term it could damage the nervous system attack the kidneys and ultimately cause cancer is in your nose oh you can feel

it not good yeah it's bad you see wow yes dirty blood with only the copper remaining the bundles are taken back to the yard where they're bought up by Metal Traders and ultimately exported as raw materials [Music] [Music] the way site is an assault on the senses but it's only half the story how do we cross the river over there yeah on the other side of the river a vast sprawling slum has developed so the work stays that side and this is where everybody lives yeah officially called Old fattima it's often known by a more

derogatory nickname Sodom and [Music] gamorra home to some 880,000 people living within just half a square mile it has no running water or sewage system and disease is [Music] RI but for the next week I'll be staying here with 27-year-old Yaro we're here yeah this house yeah is that a boat on top of this one huh is that a boat yeah on top yes I make it because of water that's one way to make a roof like most of the burner boys Yaro came from the impoverished North part of a massive influx of people lured

to the capital in search of work over the past decade a practicing Muslim most of his money still gets sent home but he hasn't been back for 4 years it's cozy yeah it's cozy in here so you're going to leave me to be here on my own I can leave you to go and stay the another room oh you're going to be my neighbor yeah thank you for letting me stay here I appreciate it don't worry so this is where you stay with your wife or just my wife in north but I get my girlfriend

in here so me and him we are sleeping here so you have a girlfriend and a wife yes you know our our type of Muslim we like each other that's one way the house is fine it's warm it's nice cozy yeah and you have children yes I have two children wow congratulations right now it's time for [Music] pray I have to make it here because I make late for the for the mosque yes you want to pray in your room yes [Music] okay I'm a little sh shocked it just feels like I've packed a week

into a day I'm trying my hardest to take it all in but it is a lot so much SOA my head's pounding a little bit now everything from the conditions to what exists just over there I mean you've got a highway over there where you've got a [ __ ] ton of people that are just driving past this I've been one of those people I've come to a crow a million and one times and I don't know this GH I've got no choice but to get to know it over the next [Music] week [Music] this

is clean it's dry it's safe and it's going to be home for the next week and you know what I ain't bloody complaining because this is a lot nicer than some of the places I've seen today it looks like he's put the fan together through bits and pieces he's found I mean so impressive I I know how he's done it but I know I ain't going to try and put my finger anywhere near that to turn it off I'll probably lose it [Music] although it's built on a flood plane out of wooden Shacks old fattima

has its own mini economy there are mosques cafes gyms and even hotels but there are no official amenities anything that does exist like toilets or showers have all been set up as small businesses I've just made a consistent amount of school boy errors so first of all I haven't bought a towel second of all um I haven't bought any soap so I don't know if it's the smartest thing in the world to do but I've nied a bit of our soap off the side tried to clean it as best I can but there was like

an array of pubes on this thing and I think I've just about got it pued for okay should you get to work y you're working so hard every day for a purpose you're feeding your family you're feeding yourself yeah do you have a dream is there like something you're working towards in my dream small time if I get some of big money I can I can go and open a a provision store you want a business that can look after itself so you don't need to do this anymore yes how long before you get your

own business before you get provision store maybe like I have to say like 2 years so I want be back in the north the group I'm with are one of several small gangs working on the site boy each burner boy works with his own suppliers and how much money he makes is down to him but competition is fierce you take you [ __ ] P 21-year-old a sends most of his money back home to support his mother and 7-year-old son he's hoping to get enough together for them to join him and his wife he really

doesn't [ __ ] about does he just gets it done you you seem to work harder than them you you work hard look you're sweating look look at you sweat in the water yeah bring it put it it's still early doors it's not even lunch time yet and with the amount of copper that's coming through here this feels like part of a chain a much bigger chain and um if the amount of men coming to these guys is anything to go by there's a lot of people doing a lot of business further inside old fed

I've been told that the burner boys are doing the hardest and most dangerous work for the smallest reward but further back up the chain there are people making money I've asked a while to introduce me to his main contact the person who sends all his wires and ultimately provides him with a living this is one my friend your name is baba tund baba you see yes are you Nigerian Baba I'm Nigerian I was going to say I don't know many ghanians called baba baba is one of agog bl's money men the people who bring the

4y electrical items onto the site in the first place you got so many computers yes what's the what's the business like here is it going well yeah it's okay so what do you do let me show that's one way to get into it so once you crack into it you remove the boards right yes yes yes see the way I remove the board see this is copper M you see mhm this the copper so when I when when I when I finish this m I remove all this one I set for him I've been um

I've been spending some time today with and um he's burning cables to get to Copper to sell and he's earning a little bit how can this man MH how can he go from being a burner to owning a business like yours but that's their own business they they love it if they doesn't love it they will not they will stop it do you love it they love it do you love your job yes he love because love his job maybe because of financial problem so how does he graduate to another job does he need money

exactly Money Talks you can do any other things if I have money in my pocket I can move anywhere let me see let me see how much money is in your pocket no hey wow whoa hey hang got a second you've got I haven't even seen one of these 50 c computer business this is where you need to be wow you guys there always you bloody Nigerians my God Baba it's nice to meet you man I'm sure I'll see you again yeah thank you very much nice to meet you thank you okay nice to meet

you Bara specializes in computers and pays a handful of people to break down the goods he's bought into raw materials like aluminium silver and zinc nothing is left to waste but it's the copper that's most valuable come here can you sit aside look at the Copper you're pulling out we are burning cable to get copper this much and you're just pulling out copper fresh this size fresh copper yes all these are fresh you see you should be working here this is where the money is so the profit on each machine that you break down will

be how much in cities five cities how many ma machines will you break down a day up to 18 18 yeah that's not bad and if you're getting five six cities it's machine it adds up I'm not going to ask to see your wallet thank you very much okay I will thank [Music] you it's amazing to think that everything here was once just thrown away in a blosi one man's waste really is another man's treasure but for a burner boy making money is a challenge and that's if nothing goes wrong so for all of that

that we burn there only two cities yes so do you keep much money on you then when you have cash yesterday I put inside my my wallet where you fall down you dropped it wa somebody take it how much did you lose 840,000 so it's 84 cities yes go off it boy go off it that's a lot of that's a lot of money yes I'm starting to get more of a clearer picture as to why it's so difficult to have a different job and make better money because well I mean if you're if you're working

here in this environment chances are you've not got the money to buy Goods to sell at any of the other areas out here and unfortunately to avoid this you need money to start so that kind of explains why there are so many young men here you know there's young men who haven't got an education who have traveled down from the north to find money for their families and if you've got no money in your pocket this is the easiest way to earn and if you're able to save that's the easiest way to graduate to a

slightly better job oh well he was saving to try and make sure that he's not here forever and it all went tits up when he lost his blood wallet like an [Music] idiot how much money did you make today today I get only three cities just three yes instead of being paid money to burn cables the boys often take a small amount of copper from their customers instead of cash it's heavy it's a good bag yeah hoping to claw back his losses a wiress is cashing in the stash of copper he's been saving up where

this copper for us make it 10 no no make it 10 just give the 50 done uh that's it you see you see you need me thank you and all right okay 50 cities yes 50 cities boyed by his 53 cities or £9 a is taking me to his other business venture across the water in Old FMA did you paint all of this yourself yes it's a tail as he setting up with his wife so how important is it to you then that you stop working over there burning for copper how much do you want

to stop doing that [Music] hopes that his business will provide a decent living for him and his family listen you take a break let me do something after what I've seen and heard today I'm not sure how realistic that is the AG blosi system just seems too stacked against him but you have to admire his work ethic and I think if anyone can get out it will be him [Music] [ __ ] tasty bro oh today was a good day hard day but good day my hands even hurting I can't even look Skin's peeling off

my hands look yeah see ah good night [Music] man do you remember being a kid and um I know maybe it's just me but when I was little I was the kid that would put batteries in my mouth and get told and get told off for it that weird chemical taste some of you might know what I'm talking about that weird chemical taste is what I feel like I was subjected to pretty much for the entire day I have no idea what the long-term effects of that kind of chemical and smoke inhalation actually are but

I do know they can't be [Music] good have to I literally just fell in a I was knee deep in [ __ ] literally [ __ ] sakes see it's a good thing I haven't got any open cuts on my hand is it how's my how is my flipping [Music] lck the work here leaves you tired scratched up burned and bruised so it's a relief not to be heading back to the site this morning today is Eid the Muslim Festival marking the end of Ramadan AGB blosi is predominantly Muslim and everyone in the slum has

taken the day [Music] off that's why to make an exit in it I don't think I've ever seen an mom leave on the back of a motorbike before it's pretty cool so I now prayers finished yes fasting is over yes everything finished so what you what are your plans for Ramadan then what are you going to do today we have to find somewhere so that we can make with all the work on the dump having stopped I'm taking the opportunity to get to know some of the boys better 22-year-old razak moved here 4 years ago

following his elder brother down from the north he'd hoped to find work as an electrician but ended up as a burner boy living in the slum with his wife and 2-year-old daughter bisu are you worried at all about the health of your child being here raising her in this environment so if she does go to school what what do you want her to be hey fine hopefully then you won't have to work burning copper right ni let's get I don't like her here one bit she get her you can't help but feel for these guys

having to make a choice between bringing up their children on a toxic waste dump SLE or sending them to live hundreds of miles away in the north it's not a decision I'd ever want to make but here it's a hard reality well this is the most section I've seen since I've been here I mean it is Ramadan so everyone's out and they're celebrating and it seems like every corner I turn there's a new party happening this is turned into a night on the town with a boy is it properly you know I realize I've forgotten

how old these guys actually are their husbands and their fathers as well they got a lot of responsibilities but on a night out like tonight there're a bunch of guys in their early 20s and when you take into account what they do for a living can understand why they want to the head down right coming in let's go let's [Music] go after 3 days I can see no one here has it easy life on AG blosi is tough as tough as anywhere I've been anyway most Muslims will be spending today celebrating with their families these

boys are hundreds of miles from home but they seem to have found a bond with each other living here it must be nice to think that at least somebody is watching out for you [Music] no despite their close Bond the boys are trying to save enough money to move on from burning AA has been here for 4 years but two days ago he lost his wallet containing 84 cities precious funds he was saving towards his new tailoring business where they going they want to talk them about the money my money left I lost it Chief

this morning though Chief Muhammad has spoken to the gang and they've agreed to chip in and reimburse some of his losses half half is better than nothing right yeah Chief thank you so we're going to Bush yes why am I pulling pulling armed with 90 cities or 15 lb we're headed 5 mil across the city hoping to buy some scrap Goods at the local electronics market and sell them for a profit back on site Ghana has a wellestablished E-Waste chain electrical items arrive here on ships from all all over the world anything that is fixable

is repaired and sold on anything that can't be fixed is generally bought up by wholesalers like Baba and taken to agba blosi to be scrapped a while is hoping to buy himself a piece of the action scrapping SCS scraps yeah scraps how much 70 70 yeah 7 we we transform transform no problem transform what's the best you can do for all of it I give you Al Al he's good next time how much 40 C everything yes AA has invested 40 of his 90 cities in scrap but just being here is a gamble he won't

make any money today from burning and there's no guarantee that he'll be able to sell his Goods back on the snemn condemn how much 25 how much that cost 25 so you still have 25 left what's he saying Seven Cities 2 it's okay small one city you go next time more you go call me thank you you know some other places to go yes having helped a while get his scrap I can't help but think where do these Goods really come from in order to prevent toxic materials being transported abroad the barel convention prohibits the

export of faulty electronic Goods but it's common knowledge amongst locals the broken items frequently find their way into the country yes scrubs scraps no scraps uh no scraps how you doing yeah good where do your um where do your electronics come from then Yuki they come from the UK yeah all of it all of it and have you got any right now yeah I have yeah a surround sound Sur sound yeah yeah DVD okay DVD this is from England this is from England where specifically is it coming from okay sound from uh wble what name

wbl yeah okay and then uh what it Manchester manchest can you show me do you have any yeah uh should I come in yeah yeah these are all from the UK from UK what part that's saury that's from sabur yeah that's crazy so where's this one from from Yuki uh do you know where what shop what business because it says on the top it's faulty it's curries look at that Curry's PC World there we go this one's faulty as well this one's been sent for return this one is an untested return again so these are

all problematic that they've sent they even marked so so this is untested return do you think these companies are aware of what's happening with their products uh no there's nothing to suggest these companies ever knew that these Goods would end up abroad and once they sell the items on to a third party in the UK the disposal becomes the obligation of the new owner thank you for talking me through this I can't believe I've seen this here let's go the UK has strict guidelines that govern the destruction of ew but clearly some products are still

ending up in Ghana I'm actually a bit embarrassed the fact that those goods are ending up here it just doesn't make any sense to me and the reason I have such an issue with it is because I've seen what happens to those bits they end up with Bubba the computer shop and he smashes them up and then someone like a comes and buys the copper and then he burns it and then he inhales the fumes and he goes to the hospital it's not good enough let's go let's go I'm going back yes go back push

it we walk go I'll push you I've got no no idea if the goods on our cart are British or not but with all these money invested we start to head back [Music] home now let's go and sell it yeah yeah let's go do you know where to go yes this one how much 40 for 40 for the for the computers I'd expect it a while to break down the goods himself but there's a sort of invisible order to the waste chain here everyone has their job and I guess it's just simpler for a while

to sell the goods on quickly please let's go well done well done businessman we a businessman by the time we've sold all the items it's almost evening today has been a Gamble and for our sake I hope it's one one that paid off count down 510 100 120 123 123 cities businessman well [Music] down I must admit I'm relieved having managed to turn a 33 City profit W is now back on track and hopefully it's enough to open the tailor shop for his wife in the [Music] slump it's a tough place man a is doing

everything he can to ensure that he's going to be okay he stands the greatest chance of getting it it being out of this when there's desper ation people will do whatever it takes to feed their [Music] families good morning yeah woking up this morning and um my chest is just ropey as and I can't really attribute it to anything other than the smoke all of the boys have spoken about discomfort but Yaro seems to be suffering more than most yo breakfast this morning I'm supposed to be going with him to see the doctor where he's

arranged to have one of his regular checkups okay so what is it you need to do oh we have to go so that I need to talk with my boss some of my customer they buy plenty Goods correct me if I'm wrong what you're saying is you want to go and speak to someone now yeah to guarantee some burning work yeah for when we come back from the hospital yes yes where they're helping you with the results of burning yeah so you want to have work to do as soon as you come back yeah yeah

yeah let's go okay we go I will show you the man so he's having a chat now with a guy who's one of his best customers before we go to the hospital because this guy comes maybe once or twice a year and when he comes to burn cable he's burning a huge bundle not just a small one so Theo it's important that he secures that customer instead of somebody else getting that business we have to go done sorted [Music] yeah this way that is the hospit little is known about the scale of health problems in

ag blosi few people on the site are actually registered with a doctor all of the boys I've been working with have been breathing in toxic smoke for years what is the problem my chest and my body oil is hurting okay and headache uh how long has it been there the chest pain the fever to like 4 months now what do you do in my work yes what I'm burning coer so do you know do you know you need to cover your nose before so that you don't inhale all those I know but in our work

there sometimes it's good for you sometimes not good for you when you C do you bring out any fls uh yes sometimes the color is black are you vomiting these days last week I was sping me I'm vomiting can you take off your TOS stand face the window any pain as to what I'm doing no no pain any pain here I've see something okay sit down just sit down like don't put it on this so what we do is we do a black test would take a chest xray and do you know some of the

smoke and the things you attaching can bring you sickness sickness you know not prot not protecting yourself adequately do you know any of your colleagues working with you you who coughs and blood comes yes my brother's son so yeah sure bring him over let's have okay I bring him doctor you were saying that you want some of his friends to come and see you as well in your opinion they should be coming more frequently these boys that are burning yes anytime they are not feeling well they should come it's a problem and I think the

Ministry of Health will have to this and see how they can be organized have because I believe especially the The Masks they need it badly they will have to wear masks and then thank you thank you the doctor's examination has identified potential problems he's asked him to return the following day for further tests so the doctor is um is quite concerned something is wrong with the AR I don't think that he's quite given it the thought that maybe it deserves on the one hand it's easy to know how I feel about the burning it's wrong

Yaro shouldn't have to breathe in toxic fumes all day just to feed his wife and kids and his mistress but at the same time they need this work to put food in their mouths it's a living but ultimately it's killing them y yeah how be you you weren't joking about going straight back to work have you been here since the hospital yeah you finished yes I finished how much did you um how much did you burn oh look at this Al yeah so I have to take it to is the plan to make the money

as quickly as possible that way we go to the hospital yeah they ask me about to cover myself I can't buy my own HL I have been buying hlu to protect myself how about your nose I would buy my nose own what was it that he said that made you want to buy the gloves you know they said that that kind of things is poison right now we have to change our life so that no no more poisons in our body so that we can live long life what are the effects that we get it

from there do you not know has no one told you have you not like have you not asked until it's the first time that you've asked about the effects of the smoke yeah I don't know the effects sometimes you get AA you get chest problem the money that you will get take it cover yourself you see say the smoke they enter me how the smoke they enter they enter my body so the matter where I'm talking you that you have to protect yourself as much as it's ticker in me that Yaro um has become an

expert on smoke inhalation and um what it might lead to I'm actually kind of over the moon that he is not only protecting himself but he's also chewing the ear off of a poor young guy about how he can actually give himself a longer Life by just protecting himself while he works here if I come back in a year he might be a doctor for the entire burner boys who [Music] knows I'm relieved that the message is getting through to the boys but I hate to think what damage has been done from years spent inhaling

the toxic fumes 3 n Germany 3 this is St hit the bar you still play football right yeah how good are you play well you play well yeah did you ever think that you might um you might play professionally you ever try and train Academy before you at the Academy yeah really yeah wow when did you stop that my so do you think you'll ever go back to playing football yes if I if I get money because I want to travel if I I you still think there's time you still think there's time to play

for Ghana national side do you not think what you're doing for a living now might affect your your chances in terms of your Fitness you buy that Med medicine and and drink it it will wash every your body it's tragic to hear a while talk about his health like this the idea that he can just get rid of all the effects of the smoke with a bit of medicine but I worry that unless these guys are taught about the dangers of the job nothing will ever really [Music] change okay it's my last day in the

camp I feel like I've started to understand what it's like for the people who spend their lives working on the dump but I'm Keen to speak to someone who can tell me about why the ew still arriving and whose job it is to prevent it coming in I've been told to speak to Fred a local politician who speaks out on behalf of the residents of abashi why is there such a problem with ew specifically this ye issue is from the Western world because you don't bring it then they won't do the work and we have

a clearcut conventions and agreements why don't you respect the Bas convention that we are not bringing that kind of waste back to this kind of developing countries so the sour the cause of this problem is the Western World United Kingdom is one of them States of America we are going to give them a gift we are donating waste and that is not fair because they look at the the poverty aspect of it what do you think think the future for for Al f is I think that in as much as we know is a very

bad practice and that should stop uh but you have to find a solution to it before find a way you can integrate them find good work for them to survive economically the thing that keeps coming up is money though and there will always be money and scrap and we will always have scrap no matter how far we move forward as a planet there will always be waste right people have to recycle but recycle in economic and healthy way and you think that you are doing good to them absolutely it's unacceptable absolutely unacceptable listen it's been

a real pleasure meeting you Fred's passionate about stamping out ew in abug blosi and it's a relief to hear that at least somebody is fighting on behalf of the locals but he's right when he says you can't just get rid of it there's an established Community here people depend on these jobs to survive just shutting the place down overnight might do more harm than good what is this you're bur in here h that from fridge yes you see it cut more yeah but look at the color of the smoke it's not good hit this one

hit them hit them need to get mask I go buy it hey why aren you wearing it put it on for good it's not please stop wearing it yes look at you you're the Black Swan fast it's supposed to cover your nose of course hey wait wait it's hot no we need to get you some gloves next Jesus Christ Jesus Christ I don't really subscribe to the idea of favorites he's my favorite kind of a cool guy r with my timer AGB blushy draw drawing to a close I've built up a strong bond with the

burner boys especially Yaro and a but as I come to say my goodbyes Yaro is at the hospital for more checks um listen thank you so much for having me thank you for looking after me thank you thank you for feeding me as well yes and giving me somewhere to stay I appreciate you got I appreciate it all right Chief Muhammad why you here CH M say get something to give you you have something for me what's that hey you're making me nervous what make you last last birthday to go back to your hometown hey

what's that now [Laughter] COA yeah yeah look at that byebye byebye byebye byebye byebye thank you [Music] Bo uhhuh uhhuh ready the protocal S yeah y I'm leaving where you are going now I'm going oh a friend I'm going I go to the hospital I see the you get the results yeah I get the results they say yeah they say I have blood problem and my lungs some of smoke so they need me to go and take some of medications yeah and how you going to pay for the medicine you're going to have to come

Burn yeah I'll come try and do some of work so that I can get the money to go by it yeah at least today when you work you're going to cover your nose yeah and wear some gloves and my Blues smoke is a lot smoke is a [Music] lot yeah I have to go okay don't worry listen please look after yourself okay okay I hear yes okay make sure I hear cover your nose please okay off yourself okay thank you yeah maam reg y y [Music] bye my week here has been eye openening parts of

it I've genuinely loved meeting the boys and staying with them in the slum but I'm all too aware that unlike me they can't pack up their bags and walk [Music] away the burner boys came to a c in search of money and ended up stting back here they're doing a job that's probably killing [Music] them and the worst part is we're partially [Music] [Music] responsible [Music]