Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Cameroon

Task force set up to clean poison lakes

    ABIDJAN
    Cameroon’s government on Tuesday inaugurated an inter-ministerial task force to supervise the cleaning of volcanic lakes whose gases killed hundreds of people in 1986 and continue to endanger nearby populations. Officials at the country’s Ministry of Territorial Administration told IRIN on Wednesday that the body, chaired by Prime Minister Peter Musonge, would seek international funds for cleaning up lakes Nyos and Monoum. An official in the ministry’s Civil Protection Directorate said that it was sensitising people living near the lakes to the dangers posed by its gases. Lake Nyos erupted in 1986 spewing carbon dioxide and killing nearly 1,700 people.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join