Thoughts of today

The image of a deserted wasteland was quickly extinguished when I arrived at the Union Carbide site to commence the clean up, a clean up that it is Dow Chemical's responsibility to finish. On one side of the road was the factory site and on the other side were shops, houses and masses of people. I was aware of many of the problems suffered by the local community before my visit to Bhopal but it is only on seeing the close proximity of the factory to this community that you realize the profound effect that the disaster of 18 years ago continues to have on the community today.

I was there with Greenpeace as part of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, a coalition of local and international groups with the aim of bringing justice to the Bhopalis affected by the disaster of 1984. Our aim was to commence a clean up of the site that Union Carbide had deserted and to take a small step towards what is required to be done in Bhopal.

The remaining steps are the responsibility of US multinational, Dow Chemicals. As a result of the purchase of Union Carbide by Dow Chemicals, Dow has become the largest chemicals company in the world and it despite its massive resources, it has refused to live up to its responsibilities.

Unfortunately, we were unable to commence the clean up as we were removed from the site and arrested by police. Until that point, the sense of both personal empowerment and the empowerment of the community were very strong but unfortunately, our desire to start the clean up was not fulfilled.

It was incredibly frustrating to be there at the Union Carbide site, a site I had traveled from Perth in Western Australia to be at and to then be unable to start the clean up that the local community so desperately needs. Until we were removed from the site there was a continuing element of hope that the police would understand that there was no loser in what we were doing. Unfortunately, reason did not win and the clean up will have to begin another day.

However, on a day where there was some disappointment due to the failure to carry out the task we set out to do, there were many positives. Joining citizens from 18 different countries in the clean up team were members of the local community. The commitment of these local community members was amazing and even after the arrest of many of them, their continued high spirits and their drive to force Dow Chemicals to live up to its responsibilities were inspirational.

The attitude of many of the local police was also positive. Despite many of them using a greater degree of force than was necessary or acceptable, many police indicated an understanding with our situation. After all, it is also their community that continues to feel the effect of this tragedy.

The events of today have resulted in two contrasting images of justice forming in my mind. Firstly, we aimed to take positive action and commence the clean up of the Union Carbide site. However, the local police denied us that opportunity and subjected those with positive ambitions for the local community to arrest and legal charges.

The other side of the coin is the justice served on Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals. Dow Chemicals has still not cleaned up the site or compensated the local community for the massive loss and hardship they have suffered and until Dow does so, the local community will continue to suffer as a result of Dow's inactivity. 120,000 people require urgent medical attention and Dow has failed to provide the care that it is Dow's responsibility to provide.

Despite these failures by Dow to live up to its responsibilities, it continues life as the world's largest chemical company. Union Carbide s former chief executive, Warren Anderson, lives comfortably in Long Island in New York despite the outstanding warrant for his arrest. This is at the same time that many in the Bhopali community continue to live a life of hardship as a result of a company with that has demonstrated no accountability for its actions. It is hard to see the justice in that.

Jason