SiteMap View

SiteMap Hidden

Main Menu

About Us

Notice

Our Actions

E-gen Events

Our Actions

Air Pollution in Liberia

by | 22-09-2015 01:18





Clean air is something I haven't sensed since I've known myself as a Liberian. The air is just not good enough for our health. There is no special way to dispose of waste materials in the country. Liberia is not an industrial nation like the developed countries like the U.S.A, Germany, France or Great Britain. Our air is not polluted by huge toxic smoke or the usual air pollutant but by all circumstances that we see as normal and fail to institute appropriate measures to promote adequate health and Environmental sustainability. For example, there are no proper measures to control the quality of vehicles that run on the major streets. Some of these vehicles are not serviced properly and as a result give off bad gases to the air.

Another issue is the fact that in Liberia, some houses are built without bathrooms or Toilets and as a result there is always sewage waste management problem as some Liberians cannot afford to build septic tanks to consolidate their waste. Some have filled septic tanks but are unable to pay the cost of flushing out these septic tanks allowing these septic tanks to leak out unwarranted waste to the environment and sometimes the smell is fatal.

Farming practices in Liberia are not mature enough and as a result when we burn our bushes or brushed grass, there is an emission of carbon dioxide into the air.  Most importantly, 70-80 percent of the entire country lacks electricity or relies on gasoline or diesel generator and these generators give off smoke which in turn goes into the atmosphere. Interestingly again, many Liberians cannot afford gas stoves or electric stoves. They rely on coal that they have to burn. In this process heavy smoke goes up to the atmosphere as well. The disposal of health waste in the country is poor and 

Though not an industrial nations, the presence of the biggest rubber company of West Africa in Liberia, the firestone rubber company in their rubber processing helps pollute our atmosphere coca-cola bottling company, CEMENCO, Premier Milling, Club Beer Beverage Company, the National Port Authority, the Liberian Petroleum Refining Company, and the logging companies, Arcelor Mittal, and other mining and oil companies help to pollute the Liberian Atmosphere. Most Interesting of all is that the major supplier of electricity in the country the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) uses fuel to supply electricity and not hydro power.

The only solution will be to introduce clean energy in our various countries. Nations like Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia have made giant progress in the fight against air pollution.

As we reflect negativities of air pollution on societies, let us use the hashtag #clean_energy_the_way_to_go