This is the sad reality observed this weekend at the beach of Lomé, Capital city of the Republic of Togo, blessed in the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The waves that wash up on the shore of the blue ocean now turn black.
The ocean that borders this west African country which has just celebrated the famous national environmental protection Day (June 1st), has unfortunately become a mixture of salt water and oil.
The images say a lot, but all you can do, is to go to the coast to see the facts and see for yourself. This Sunday, it is a distressing scene that the users of the beach of Lomé attended.
Atlantic Ocean performing a “stomach pumping”
One could believe that the sea was in the process of carrying out a digestive evacuation operation, a gastric lavage or stomach pumping. The ocean looked like it was trying to spit out poison that it was forced to swallow. Difficult to get rid of, since it’s not a solid pollution. The pretty blue Atlantic Ocean could only continue to shed black tears for an unknown duration.
The fresh smell of the sea, which welcomes thousands tourists everyday from all over the world, has given way to a strong smell of oil.
Surprisingly, in this horrible scene, we could see some users still try to swim. They continue to jump in these black waves without realising it is dangerous.
“It is too hot! We don’t have choice but to jump in and enjoy a better temperature. Today is Sunday, my only day off ”, said Loumon, one of them.
Apart from the impacts this pollution will have on the marine ecosystem, it is a real danger for the environment.
It is also the life of the fish and that of the consumers that are at stake. It is therefore urgent that the Togolese authorities take the situation seriously.
AfrikPage has sent correspondence to the Ministry of Maritime Economy, Fisheries and Coastal Protection of Togo regarding the situation. But we haven’t received any response so far.
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