Industrial pollution is not only a problem for the countries of Europe and
North America. It is an extremely serious problem in some developing countries.
For these countries, economical growth is a very important goal. They want to
attract new industries, and so they put more controls on industries which cause
pollution. Cubatao, an industrial town of 85 000 people in
Brazil, is an example of the connection between industrial development and
pollution. In 1954, Cubatao had no industry. Today it has more than twenty large
factories, which produce many pollutants. The largest factory which exists in
the south of the town has caused at least two terrible polluting disasters. The
people of the town are exposed by the poisonous matters in their surroundings,
and the bad effects can be clearly seen. Birth shortcomings are extremely
common. Among children and grown-ups, lung problems are sometimes twelve times
common in Cubatao than in other places. It is true that Brazil,
like many other countries, has laws against pollution, but these laws are not
carried out strict enough. For companies, it is cheaper of take no notice of the
laws and pay the fines than to buy the expensive equipment that will reduce the
pollution. It is clear, therefore, that economic growth is more important to the
government than to the health of the workers. However, the responsibility
does not completely lay with the Brazilian government. The example of Cubatao
shows that international companies are not acting in a responsible way neither.
A number of factories in the town are owned by large companies from France,
Italy, and the US They are doing things in Brazil that they would not be able to
do at home. If they caused the same amount of pollution at home, they would be
severely punishing or even put out of business. ______