A COTTON producer and five other companies in western Cameroon have been ordered to pay pollution penalties of up to 24-million CFA francs ($31_000) an official source said on Monday. Cameroon Industrial Cotton (CICAM) has until June 30 to pay a five million CFA franc ($6_500) fine for the reckless release into the environment of highly coloured effluents at very high temperatures. The action against CICAM and other firms was the first taken by Environment and Forestry Sylvestre Naah Ondoua under a 1996 law on the management of the environment, the source close to his administration said. “This is the beginning of a widespread campaign of punishment and repression against all companies which fail to comply with the law,” the official added. Others fined for pollution in the region of Douala, the west African country’s economic capital, included two national housing firms and Guinness Cameroon. The national Camrail railway operator and Mobil-Oil were both fined for releasing hydrocarbon products and polluted water into the environment. – AFP
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