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[HEALTH] Black Soot In Port Harcourt

Photo credit: CQTI

Black soot is a product of the incomplete combustion of fueled carbon. When carbon burns all the way through, very little residue is left. When it does not, it leaves behind a black, flaky substance called soot. Soot is made of tiny carbon particles created by incomplete combustion of fossil fuels.


Recently, black soot has been a rising issue in Port Harcourt.The persistent black soot began to be observed in Port Harcourt and its environs in the last quarter of 2016 and has become an environmental issue for residents of the city, state and country. The increased presence of soot in the environment is because of illegal refining around Port Harcourt City locally known as kpo fire.


Photo Credit: Starzone Blogs
Personally, as a resident of Port Harcourt and i see and experience the soot, i feel the government has a role to play in order to address this issue. Recently though, Gov. Nyesome Wike has taken some stringent action against the soot with enforcement. I feel this is not enough deterrent to stop the soot. My reason is because this matter of soot started late 2016 and the government was not able to curtail their actions. Lots of the illegal refinery workers bribe police, the army or the naval force to let them pass and deliver their goods.


Soot is caused by illegal refineries set up to process and refine crude oil as an alternative to the finished goods sold in the fuel station. These refineries, being local, are closed to civilization and
therefore the soot we see. The other day I was at a fuel station and the fuel attendant told me that the fuel the kpo fire refinery is making is what is being used to fill up their tanks and there is no difference.


Photo Credit: Starzone Blogs
The people causing this soot of course are humans like us. They feel the effect yet they keep going at it
and you may wonder why this is the case  well while not being an excuse most of them are youth looking for financial stability.  They want to just make ends meet however, the profit they make can be channeled into something else as life is very important because if no one is living to buy their goods their end meet wont be met. 


To the patronnizers of illegal refineries i plea to you to desist, stop giving them a reason to continue damage human lives many innocent people have died due to the result of this illegal refineries and to the corrupt forces collecting money think about how your actions will affect future generations and desist finally to the government, provision of funds and job and youth empowerment programme will deter youths from such illegal actions our refineries are not working fix them up so these boys will legalize their occupation and practise it in a safe environments.


Here is a chat with burna boy where he expresses his concersn


Port Harcourt is a garden city full of pleasant sites, beautiful parks, talented individuals and most importantly safe so we should endeavour not to destroy it either by our actions directly or indirectly. The above situation calls for urgent affirmative action on the part of the Federal and State government to contain, stop and minimize to the lowest level all actions or activities such as illegal oil bunkering and local refining of crude that give rise to soot emission in Rivers State.

Making appropriate legislation by both governments that will ensure clean air, enable the building of modular refineries, obliterate all forms of illegal oil bunkering and local refining of crude will definitely serve as the right step in the right direction towards confronting soot emission. There is no other better time to act if not now. The health and life of every Rivers State resident matters.


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