Empower poor communities in urban South Durban to fight against environmental hazards of pollution caused by oil refineries, paper mills, chemical manufacturers and other toxic industries.
Over 500,000 people live in South Durban. Many people of color were moved to this region under Apartheid and still live there. Many hazardous industries are also based here. All told, there are approximately 120 "smokestack industries" that produce a wide variety of petroleum and other chemical products in South Durban .As a result, people are exposed toxic emissions in the air, water and land, which cause severe health problems such as respiratory illness and cancer.
This project fights for the environmental rights of those in lower working class communities. Communities will become aware of health risks from industrial pollution and be able to report on industrial incidents and illegal dumping of toxic wastes.
Community members will have greater access to information about health risks, confidence to report issues and be given a voice on the environmental issues that negatively affect them. People’s health will improve and further pollution avoided.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
