The Bayelsa Ministry of Environment and non-governmental organisations in the state have called for a stronger collaboration to combat air pollution and protect the state’s ecosystem.
They made the call at a stakeholders’ meeting hosted by the ministry of environment on Tuesday in Yenagoa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the collaboration aims to strengthen local initiatives for monitoring and tackling air pollution.
The Commissioner for Environment, Dr Ebi Ben-Ololo, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Hamilton Ekeke, reaffirmed the ministry’s readiness to collaborate with stakeholders to preserve Bayelsa’s ecosystem.
The meeting provided a platform for stakeholders to examine gaps in environmental monitoring and response, particularly in oil-producing communities.
The participants expressed concern over the World Health Organisation’s estimate that air pollution causes about seven million deaths annually worldwide.
Menidin Egbo, Coordinator of the Community Environment and Development Network (CEDEN), noted that air pollution monitoring should have been integrated into assessment of oil spill damage since the establishment of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in 2006.
Egbo added that periodic reviews of the operations of N9SDRA in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, could have promoted local technologies in addressing air pollution.
“Such efforts could also have helped to tackle soil degradation, water contamination and the destruction of forests and crops associated with oil spills,” he said.
Ikechukwu Ahaka of the Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI) said capacity building for stakeholders and government agencies was necessary to improve responses to air pollution.
Ahaka said MAJI was promoting and installing air quality monitoring devices which runs on open-source technology, to monitor ambient air pollution in the Niger Delta.
He said the initiative was designed to strengthen the capacity of local actors to monitor air quality and address pollution in affected communities.
