THE soot emission in some parts of Rivers State has again drawn attention to the need to check environmental pollution in the country. Residents of Port Harcourt and its environs have been battling soot in their homes, offices, business premises, churches, on vehicles, goods, clothes and food items. THE soot emission in some parts of Rivers State has again drawn attention to the need to check environmental pollution in the country. Residents of Port Harcourt and its environs have been battling soot in their homes, offices, business premises, churches, on vehicles, goods, clothes and food items.
To contain the situation, the state governor, Nyesom Wike, set up a Task Force headed by the Commissioner for Environment, Prof. Roslyn Konya, to investigate and resolve the environmental challenge. The Task Force has since shut down three companies whose activities were said to be responsible for the pollution, while the soot was found to be a result of incomplete combustion of petroleum products. Operations of illegal refineries and petro-chemical companies as well as burning of old tyres to access the copper embedded in them are said to be other sources of the pollution.
The Rivers State government has enjoined residents of the areas affected by the soot to cover all foods and avoid drinking rainwater and other exposed water. They should also avoid all exposed food such as roasted plantain and suya, and keep their doors and windows closed.
We commend the Rivers State government for its prompt response to this environmental challenge. The Federal Ministry of Environment should also do whatever is required to help the state overcome this problem. A pollution of this magnitude should be properly investigated and stopped before more harm is done to the environment and the people in the affected areas.
Air pollution is a major environmental hazard in developing and developed countries. Air pollutants such as dust and smoke have serious impact on human health. They can affect the lungs and the entire respiratory system. They can also be taken up by the blood system and pumped all round the body. Air pollution has also been linked to a rise in certain cancers.
Available statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that nine out of ten people globally are breathing poor quality air, while pollution is responsible for more than six million deaths annually. WHO also estimates that more than six million deaths per year are linked to exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution.
About 90 percent of air pollution-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. Last year, the World Bank said that air pollution was the deadliest form of pollution and the fourth leading risk factor for premature deaths worldwide.
In a joint study with the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the bank claimed that an estimated 5.5 million lives were lost in 2013 to diseases associated with outdoor and household air pollution. It said that deaths arising from air pollution in 90 percent of the population in low and middle-income countries cost the global economy about $225 billion in lost labour income in 2013.
The federal and state governments should, therefore, curb all forms of environmental pollution.
Not quite long ago, WHO listed Onitsha, Aba, Umuahia and Kaduna among the world’s most polluted cities. It explained that “reliance on using solid fuels for cooking, burning waste, and traffic pollution from very old tyres” were contributory factors to the pollution in these cities.
Therefore, the Federal Ministry of Environment should liaise with its counterparts in the states to curb the increasing air pollution in the country.