Pesticides pose US $600,000 problem

Hundreds of tons of obsolete, but highly toxic pesticides imported to Mozambique for incineration, would cost the country at least US $600,000 if they were to be re-exported, news reports said. The pesticides were originally meant to be incinerated at a cement factory in the southern city of Matola, but the plan was shelved following an outcry by local environmental groups and a damning environmental impact assessment by the Mozambican firm Impacto. The country's environment ministry said it was now considering re-exporting the pesticides for destruction at specialised facilities, which would cost the impoverished country up to US $600,000, the ministry said.