“Whales?” Dawson said in surprise. “Ghana has whales?”
“Oh, yes!” Cardiman exclaimed with a smile. “And dolphins and endangered giant sea turtles. They didn’t teach you all that in school, did they?”
“No,” Dawson said. “Although it’s possible I slept through that class.”
Cardiman laughed, the stern expression on his face softening a bit.
“Let’s say a very large spill occurs,” Dawson said, “who pays for it?”
“Malgam will pay for the cleanup, but that’s as far as they’re obligated.”
“They wouldn’t be fined?”
“No,” Cardiman said, shaking his head with vigor. “Even worse, they don’t pay restitution to fishing communities should their livelihoods be adversely affected. They can get away with murder, and that’s not an exaggeration.”
“And whose fault is that?” Dawson asked.
“Our government’s, that’s who!” Cardiman said, as if it should have been obvious. “A pusillanimous bunch who can’t stand up to these multinationals or resist the money that gets deposited in their Swiss bank accounts, not to mention the all-expenses-paid jaunts to Europe.”
“You’re saying gifts in exchange for keeping regulations at a minimum,” Dawson said.
“Do you think this lack of oversight of the oil companies is accidental?” Cardiman asked heatedly. “Don’t believe it for a moment.”
Dawson wondered if the man was being over-cynical, but he didn’t know enough to challenge him.
“Where did Charles Smith-Aidoo fit into all of this?” he asked.
“Here’s the problem,” Cardiman said with authority. “Charles served two masters-Malgam Oil, and himself, and sometimes it was a conflict of interest. His duties to Malgam included presenting the best face of the company to outside agencies, and to the public. However, at the same time he was setting up moneymaking ventures for personal gain. So, for instance, while he’s representing Malgam in their PR move to rebuild Akwidaa, he gets the bright idea that Akwidaa should trade their beachfront property in return for electricity and running water at another location, and he’s thinking about what’s in it for him and his developer friend.”
“What developer friend?”
“Peter Duodo. Savvy man-owns Duodo Enterprises in Accra. It’s in the Price-Waterhouse Building near Kotoka Airport.” Cardiman seemed to relish supplying information. “The two of them had some kind of informal scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours arrangement.”
“I see.” Dawson was thinking about all Cardiman had said so far. “Do you think Malgam would really finance the relocation of an entire village?”
