The conflict between the Pointe-Noire-based recycling company Metssa Congo in Vindoulou, a suburb of the city has also been depicted in the same report “In the Shadow of Industries in the Republic of Congo. The NGO requests Brazzaville authorities to monitor industrial companies to conform to Human rights policies.
However, the recycling plant of metal and plastic is open and serving the population actively. In April a decision was made to suspend temporarily a decision that was made by a judge but the supreme court reversed the decision in late May to the displeasure of the residents who are worried about their health .
Cyrille Traoré Ndembi, as the group of residents of Vindoulou against Metssa Congo Sarlu said that regarding to the precautionary measure and suspension of the activities of the company awaiting for the decision of the administrative tribunal was not observed. “This is an example of how the decision is made in favor of industrialists and against the public health,” he lamented. Traoré Ndembi has stated that if the legal process will take years to finish, then the population that suffers from toxic conditions that are dangerous to human life will die.
The level of anxiety among the residents has been further fueled by blood tests conducted which showed that most of the residents have been exposed to high levels of lead due to the plant and most of the residents stay awake due to stress.
Metssa Congo has encountered a rising level of resistance since the company started its operation in Vindoulou in 2013. Described by its residents with the help of Amnesty International, in March 2023 people around twenty blood samples were collected from children living near the factory. Various tests performed in the French laboratory showed all the samples had lead levels that were at least two-and-a-half times the safe limit set by WHO.
However, the Managing Director of Metssa Congo, André Bikindou dismissed the allegations with the essence of this writing. According to him, the claims that residents are suffering from health complications as a result of the company’s activities, cannot be proven.