“Residents Have Been Breathing Black Soot”— Rotary Club Moves To Stop Menace In Port Harcourt

The Rotary Club of Port Harcourt is making moves to curtail the black soot menace causing air pollution in Portharcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The club has disclosed that it has started rallying stakeholders to begin a campaign against the black soot menace, by going for the actual source — artisanal refineries, popularly called kpo-fire in the State. 

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 The Chapter President, Rotary, Emem Okon, said Rotary decided to increase its area of focus to seven by adding the environment. 

 According to him, the campaign would only focus on seeking solutions to the air pollution instead of blame games. 

Iniruo Wills, the Chairman of the Planning Committee for Stop the Soot Engagement, complained that residents had been breathing black soot for seven years, which he said could cause cancer and other life-threatening diseases. 

 “There is a need for us to regularly monitor the quality of air in Port Harcourt and the wider Rivers State. You will recall that about two years ago, Port Harcourt was ranked by global authorities as the worst air polluted city in the world. 

 “The Rotary club only conceived the idea and decided to share it with other stakeholders so we can plan this thing together, own the process together,” Wills told reporters. Dr. Giadom Ferdinand, from the Department of Geology, University of Port Harcourt advised that source of the soot must first be identified and stopped. 

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 “The primary recommendations I will suggest is to stop the source of the soot. We have found out that the artisanal refineries contribute a lot to the problem.”