Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-16-Speech-4-160"
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"en.20041216.12.4-160"2
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"Mr President, today we remember one of the worst industrial disasters in history. As we have heard, in the dead of night on 2 December 1984, a deadly 40 tonnes of known and unknown poisons leaked into the air. The people of Bhopal tried to escape the poisonous cloud. Their efforts were, however, futile and nearly 4 000 people died instantaneously; to date 25 000 innocent people have died.
These are the bare brutal facts and today the people of Bhopal are still suffering from this horrifying legacy. That is why we cannot just remember, but must act as a community to help another. We need to ask why after 20 years the pursuit of justice has been so difficult for the survivors. We need to ask why the transnational corporation involved denies any continuing liability, either for the state of the Bhopal site or the victims' health.
We need to ask why the site has not been cleaned of toxic waste and continues to pollute the water the surrounding communities rely on. We need to know just how Dow Chemicals can close the door on what was one of the worst industrial disasters in this century.
We also need to ask why so many people are still awaiting adequate compensation. I appreciate the issue of compensation is mired in endless arguments as to the calculations, but this is not a sufficient reason for the people of Bhopal to have to relive the experience day after day.
Whilst I support the major part of the resolution and the sentiment behind it, I do not believe the proposed amendments add anything constructive to this resolution. It is vital when we talk about disasters such as Bhopal that we do not descend into polemics and irrationality. The allocation of blame is all too often misplaced and we often condemn all agents without establishing all the facts.
As chair of Parliament's South-Asia SAARC delegation, I would urge you to keep all these matters in perspective, and the budget of each country is particularly relevant. We must recognise the limitation of certain countries, which may not yet have developed the technologies or know-how to deal with such disasters as quickly and as safely as we have come to expect in our own countries. We must also attempt to see each angle of an issue such as the Bhopal disaster, and we should acknowledge the work that has already been done by the Indian Government and the Madhya Pradesh Government with regard to medical care, economic and social assistance, environmental clean-up, and finally financial compensation.
This short list goes to prove that a lot of work has already been done. I feel it would be unproductive to vilify a government that has made efforts to remedy and address the plethora of problems stemming from Bhopal. Rather, we need to employ all our diplomatic efforts to keep the pressure on the Indian Government to maintain its current efforts in providing compensation and working on detoxification of the area. Nevertheless, if we demand that action is taken and money is spent, we should also be prepared to help in any way we can, including offering technical and financial support.
We must not condemn without first examining what we, as a community, can do to help. We should continue to be constructive and offer the humanitarian, ecological and medical expertise we have to the Government of Madhya Pradesh. This is a role for the Commission, Member States and governments alike. I would urge you, therefore, to pressure all those who can bring any relief to those who have already suffered in Bhopal."@en1
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