Unifar Employees Confess Pollution Link

Despite claims by the Unifar Chemical Industry Ltd. company that it had no connection to hundreds of barrels of dangerous toxic waste discovered buried in a field in Tuzla, two employees of the company have told officials this week that they knew the person who buried the waste and had given it to him to dispose of until the new Environment Law went into force in 2005.

The employees told the para-military gendarme investigating the case that they knew Ali Ayvanli, who transported and then secretly buried the barrels in a field in the Orhanli township. They said the waste was given to him to dispose of.

In their statement to the gendarme, the company employees said that when the Environment Law was passed in 2005 they then broke off their relations with Ayvanli and thereon contracted waste disposal with the IZAYDAS, CINKANLAR and GORPET companies.

While the employees were released after their statements were taken, company documents seized were sent to the prosecutor's office.

After tipping off the private Show TV Special News team on the identity of Ayvali, another suspect, Mehmet Suicmez, was detained and confessed that the barrel transport job was offered to him by Ayvanli.

On receiving this information the gendarme raided the production facilities of Unifar in Sekerpinar township and took statements from five suspects including chemist Emine Ozbek and production chief Hilmi Ozdal who he claimed had given him the barrels.

Through the statements taken it was revealed that Unifar officials who maintained since the pollution discovery that they had nothing to do with it, had provided Ayvanli with industrial waste until June 2005 and that Ayvanli had disposed of these in trash areas at the Aydinli village of Tuzla. (EZO/EO/II/YE)