Recently, there was air pollution from asphalt processing plant in Port Harcourt that endangered the health of the people and the environment. Dr. Idris Goji, a Director in the Ministry of Environment in this interview with HELEN OJI proffers solutions to such issues
Why do we have pollution?
The sources of pollution are diffuse and anthropogenic in nature (man-made) as the preliminary analyses of the soot samples has indicated that the air pollution problem is as a result of open air and incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons, burning of wastes and vegetation, burning of tyres, asphalt processing and illegal artisanal refinery operations.
What is the ministry’s position on the recent air pollution incident in Port Harcourt?
The stand of the ministry is that there should be no pollution in the environment, which is what we want to see and however, if human activities are generating pollution we are to ensure that we monitor and put in corrective measures. There should be replacement of equipment or machines that causes pollution and we study the environment where the pollution is coming from and also have our facts and advice government on the issue and what needs to be done.
It takes time to get to the root causes of these menace because it is the human activities that generate pollution and you look at the place that needs to be shut down, you cannot allow it to operate. We have to move to such a place to know what is really happening and why are you doing this, there must be a corrective measure and those corrective measures are that the management of the processing plant needs to replace their equipment that is causing pollution or take away those devices and technology has given us knowledge and what is guiding us is what we call Best Advanced Technology (BAT).
We advise the company owners, manufacturers and industries to start using Best Advanced Technology because it is a technology that remedy some problems and sometimes the company operate illegally, they often release these pollution but they don’t do it regularly and again once they find out that people have noticed what they are doing, they immediately change their mode of operation, especially when they know that you have detected where the pollution is coming from.
The pollution department is not relenting in its effort to combat pollution in the states, we also have our zonal offices in Port Harcourt which is very active to checkmate any pollution, both the state and the federal we all work together as a team.
What has been done to curtail the menace?
In the department of pollution, what we do to curtail the menace is to monitor regularly and make sure that there is compliance. The way we monitor compliance is that there is an agency of the government which is called National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and whenever there is pollution, we direct (NESREA) to follow up and enforce the law, we also enforce an existing law through the activities of the agency.
As the pollution is coming from an asphalt processing plant which is affecting the people’s health and environment, what have you done to ensure overall safety of the people?
When you have pollution coming from the processing plant, that means, they are using equipment that are not proper and they are not using best advanced technology (BAT), so the company has to change their facilities lines, normally it takes a long time and it requires investment, mode of operation, best advanced technology and best environmental practice.
We ensure we monitor any pollution coming from the industries. There is an emission of pollution to the air, water and land. When pollution is released it goes into the water or the soil. When there is emission, you apply best advanced technology or best environmental practice, where these two are applied the management will be advised to change the facilities completely in order to avoid pollution in the environment and it will not endanger peoples lives.
The processing plant had been shut down temporarily how true is these?
The processing plant had been shut down by the federal government to avoid pollution and not to endanger the health and the environment of the resident of Port Harcourt. It has to be shut down to know the root cause of the problem.
What can the ministry do to make sure that the menace does not repeat?
The ministry is to enforce laws that are in existence and curtail the environment; the enforcement is carried out by the agency of the ministry that is (NESREA).
What are the effects or dangers of this air pollution on the environment?
The human health is affected and that is why when you have pollution in the environment, people are affected and it affect human activities like the health of people and the environment.
What are the precautions given to the residents of Port Harcourt in this case?
It is to ensure that they are vigilant and once they fill non- compliance they should report because we need information to act to ensure that they use filter or clean cloth to filter their water so that they do not take in the pollution. Majorly this air borne pollution falls back to the land and water source, the people should be alert to report such cases.
We need information and we need to be proactive to safe guide the environment by way of reporting any case of pollution, we need cooperation and information from the general public.
