Ivory Coast's forgotten acrid waste

Thousands of victims say they have yet to receive compensation - or say that what they have been given - around $500 (£250) in the main injury category - falls short of the amount they have lost in medical bills and earnings.

The government says it is already paid compensation to the majority of the 95,000 people entitled to treatment and says it continues to encourage people to come forward to make claims.

The money that has being paid out by the government comes from a Dutch multi-national, Trafigura.

It had chartered the ship carrying the waste, which unloaded the waste in Ivory Coast, after a failure to agree deals to get it treated in the Netherlands and Nigeria.

It said it had contracted a local firm, Tommy, to handle the waste in good faith.

In an out-of-court settlement, Trafigura agreed to pay the Ivorian government around $200m (£100m) in one of the largest ever payments of its kind.

The company did not admit liability and said the payment was made out of sympathy for Ivorian people.

It also disputes whether the chemical slops were the cause of the large number of medical cases.

Legal proceedings

Professor Ibeanu says more should be done to pursue criminal proceedings.

"This is to send a signal to other trans-national corporations and individuals that such crimes will not go unpunished and that Africa is not a cheap dumping ground."

Cases are still outstanding in the UK and the Netherlands.

As yet, no-one has been held responsible, despite suspicions of the involvement of influential members of Ivorian society.