A chromium and antimony mine in the village of Lojane was closed in 1979 and the waste was abandoned, left in the open air, polluting land and underground water supplies.
“I always tell my pupils not to approach this landfill,” Afrim Zymberi, a geography teacher at the school told Reuters, covering his nose from the smell from the dump 100 metres away.
“I call on the government, please do something, it is very dangerous to have lessons here.”
The government says it is doing what it can while it tries to sell the waste, including planning to fence off the zone.
According to the World Health Organization, arsenic is one of 10 chemicals of major public health concern. It says long-term exposure from drinking water and food can cause cancer.
According to a 2007 report commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme, 1 million tonnes of waste material were at landfills in and near the village, with toxic concentrations of arsenic, antimony…
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