Gas flaring: 'Residents of polluted areas risk cancer

Mr Philip Jakporof the Environmental Rights Action (ERA), an NGO, has warned that people living in communities polluted by flared gas stand the risk of having cancer.Jakpor, who is the Head of the Media Unit of the NGO, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, recently.He explained that the persistent burning of gas and fumes could cause cancer.'There is a flare site in Badagry. If you visited those places, it's actually a disaster because it's one continuous burning and the noise, the heat which continues for 24 hours a day, and these are not just normal fumes but dangerous chemicals carbon monoxide, things that actually cause cancer.'He said there were also cases of acid rain in the communities which affected residents' livelihood and farmlands.Jakpor said the environmental laws in the country were obsolete and unsuitable.'The challenges we have in implementing environmental laws in Nigeria is that the laws are actually not up to date and most times inappropriate,' he said.The environmental expert maintained that the out-of-date nature of the laws was a limiting factor at ensuring that the environmental rights of the people were guaranteed.He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to tackle the environmental problems to arrest environmental degradation in the country.While describing environmental degradation as a 'huge challenge', Jakpor called for the integration of communities in the execution of projects to determine its impact on human lives.'Environmental impact assessment of projects is supposed to be all inclusive; you take the community from the beginning, not at the end. They must know what the project is all about.'They must accept or reject it - if the project is going to have negative or positive implication on them; and safeguard mitigations must be provided,' he added.He also urged government to preserve and maintain lakes and dams across the country in the face of climate change and its effect.He said within 20 years, the lakes in the country could desiccate if measures were not taken to preserve them.Jakpor argued that future generations might have to fight for survival as the quest for water could be in high demand.
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