Full Letter of the Oromo Studies Association to the Chairman of Pittards PLC

Dear Mr. Boyd:

I am writing this letter on behalf of the Oromo Studies Association (OSA), a scholarly nonprofit organization, established to promote knowledge and understanding about the Oromo people and issues of interest to them and the wider Horn of Africa region. The Oromo are one of the major ethno-nationals found in East Africa, mainly in Ethiopia.

OSA and its members are appalled by the alarming reports of the destruction of Lake Koka and the death of thousands of Oromo farmers by toxic waste discharged into the lake by The Ethiopia Tannery, a company run by Pittards PLC since August 2005, and located near the lake. There are now scientific reports (1), TV documentaries (2), and first-hand testimonies that have firmly established that Lake Koka, once a source of clean and fresh water for the Oromo community living around it, has become a death chamber for the community. In a recent TV documentary, a mother who lost her six children and her husband testifies that the tannery has transformed the lake, once a source of fresh livelihood, into a major source of disease and death not only for her family, but also for the cattle drinking water from the lake. Similarly, the testimony of health professionals who operate in the vicinity corroborates the disturbing environmental degradation and the loss of human lives caused by the pollution. Action Professionals Association for the People (APAP), a non-profit, non-partisan nongovernmental organization, has even taken the case to the court to seek compensations for the damages caused by this pollution.

We believe that both your company and the Ethiopian government have been aware of the destruction of the lake and the loss of human lives caused by the pollution, but have deliberately failed to act to stop the loss of human lives and environmental damages for selfish business reasons. Your company, in collaboration with the current government in Ethiopia, is earning millions of dollars at the expense of the destruction of the lake, loss of livelihoods, and the death of thousands of Oromos residing around the lake.

We are very saddened that Pittards PLC continues to be a partner of the current minority-led, unaccountable Ethiopian regime, which has demonstrated, time and again, that it is capable of committing enormous crimes, particularly against the Oromo. You must realize that the Oromo hold Pittards PLC directly accountable for the pollution of Lake Koka and the associated loss of people’s lives and assets. Needless to say, your actions are also contrary to good business practice and social responsibility.

Notwithstanding the damage to date, we believe your company can still do much good in limiting further losses of human lives as well as reversing some of the environmental damages. The Oromo Studies Association, therefore, strongly requests your company to:

1. Stop polluting lake Koka and the entire Awash river basin which provides drinking water to millions of Oromo nationals and other Ethiopians;
2. Pay compensation for damages to people who have already lost their family and cattle
   because of this pollution; and assess any further damages through an independent Koka community-based committee supervised by donor agencies;
3. Help restore the fauna and flora of Lake Koka, including access to clean drinking water by the local community.

We hope that your company would act swiftly to end this humanitarian and environmental
tragedy.

Yours Sincerely,

Abebe Adugna, Ph.D.
President, Oromo Studies Association

CC: 

His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General, United Nations
Office of the Secretary General
885 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10017

Honourable Prime Minister Mr. Gordon Brown
10 Downing Street
London, England UK

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Pascal Lamy
Director-General, WTO
Centre William Rappard
Rue de Lausanne 154
CH-1211 Geneva 21 Switzerland

Alessandra Tisot
Country Director of Ethiopia, UNDP
One United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017 USA

Dr Margaret Chan
Director-General, World Health Organization
Avenue Appia 20
1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland

Dr Jacques Diouf
Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome, Italy

Erwin van der Borght
Africa Programme Director, Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5Th Floor
Washington, DC20003 USA

Jon Elliott
Africa Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10118-3299 USA

References:
(1) G. M. Zinabu and Nicholas J. G. Pearce, “Concentrations of heavy metals and related trace elements in some Ethiopian rift-valley lakes and their in-flows”, Hydrobiologia, Volume 492, Numbers 1-3, February 2003.

(2) See Al Jazeera TV documentary at http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/the-destruction-of-ethiopias-lake-kokapart-1-of-2/14752000/