River state government still silent over soot covering the city.
Rivers state government has been silent over the black soot issue since the last time a statement was issued about it last year.
According to the statement issued by Rivers state government in December 2016
“It has come to the notice of the state government of the sudden appearance of strange black soot deposit noticeably seen on cars and rooftops in our environment especially in Port Harcourt and its environs. The public is hereby advised not to panic as the Ministry of Environment has duly dispatched its officials to different locations in the state to monitor and locate the source of the black soot for prompt action. “It is apparently obvious that the state government cannot decontaminate the airspace, but it can put a stop to this pollution if the source of the soot is located. Consequently, the public is hereby urged to complement the effort of the state government by assisting to look for the source of this strange soot. The ministry had since then gave out dedicated telephone lines for this”. Since then we have heard nothing from them.
People in Rivers state have actually started putting on face/nose mask as a result of this.
The soot is so heavy that you can actually see the smug in early hours of the day between 7-9am. When I clean my nostril it’s black, then I now start to wonder what I have actually been breathing in.
The soot disappeared around last week of December only to reappear around 3rd week of January. The government is still quiet about this, I know a family that has relocated out of Port Harcourt as a result of this soot and a good number of people have started complaining about upper respiratory tract issues.
The health & environmental risks associated with soot includes coronary heart disease, asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer and many other respiratory illnesses which occurs as a result of breathing the tiny particles. Compounds from soot - sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides - combine with moisture to form acid rain, which worsens water quality, damages soil and crops, and changes nutrient balances in various ecosystems. Research has also shown that many premature deaths are directly related to soot in the environment. Particle exposure leads to around 20,000 premature deaths in America each year. Many of these deaths were caused by soot-related diseases. Data also show that soot annually causes almost 300,000 asthma attacks and 2 million lost workdays due to respiratory problems.
Please Rivers state government needs to do something about this fast before people start dying.

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