3rd July, 2018
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) says it is putting some measures in place to check increasing air pollution in the country.
Mr Wuave Daniel, the Gombe State Coordinator of NESREA, said this on Tuesday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe.
He said that NESREA was partnering with other relevant agencies to check air pollution through a gas emission control programme, adding that the programme was aimed at improving air quality in the country.
He said that the programme which involved vehicular and generator gas emission control schemes, aimed at reducing the gas emissions by vehicles and generators which might pose health risks to the people.
Daniel said that the emission control programme would have testing centres where the air quality of vehicles would be tested to ensure that it satisfied the required air quality standards.
“The agency is working with relevant bodies through a public-private partnership to control air pollution, by way of reducing gas emissions produced by vehicles and generators as a result of combustion of fuel, petrol and diesel.
“The agency has two programmes, which have been tested in Abuja, and would be effectively implemented very soon to ensure that the quality of air meets the required standards for our environment.
“The two programmes involve vehicular and generator emission control.
“For the vehicular emission control programme, there would be testing centres for vehicles, especially double stroke engines, to test the quality of their emissions vis a vis our environment.
“There would be a control server in Abuja and the statistics of test results would be sent to the server and those vehicles that meet the required air quality standards would be declared roadworthy.
“This has been tested in Abuja and it has proven to be a success. The agency will soon launch the programme officially.
“The technology that will be deployed would measure the level of carbon dioxide which the vehicles emit.
“This is the best practice everywhere in developed countries and Nigeria must be up to date with these innovations so as to ensure that our people do not breathe in contaminated or poisonous air,’’ he said.
Besides, Daniel said that generator users would be sensitised to the need to service their generators regularly in order to reduce emission of fumes that could pose health risks to the residents.
He appealed to Nigerians to support the programme, when it became fully operational, saying that it would be beneficial to all the citizens.