Kpone Is Prone To Toxic: When Will She Catch The Eyes Of The Authority?....Maybe Not Until Things Go Haywire...

It’s becoming increasingly risky to live in Kpone, a town which lies in thesouth-eastern part of the Greater Accra region of Ghana, 15.0 kilometres from Accra the nation’s capital. Of late, residents’ eyes have been greeted with daily pall of smoke that billows from industries sited in the Free Zone enclave.

Literally, one can no longer sight the blue sky. It’s gradually losing its place to air pollution or smoke clouds. Indeed the toxic in the atmosphere is making habitation uncomfortable and intolerable for residents who are already showing early signs of acquiring lung cancer---the disease that starts in the lungs and most often occurs in people who smoke or inhale smoke.

Speaking in interview with Adom FM a local radio station based inTema, someresidents said they could hardly breathe normal due to the inhalation of the poisonous smoke that has led to the increasing rate of respiratory related diseases.

“The whole atmosphere has been blanketed by smoke. Unfortunately we experience this on a daily basis. And that gives you a senseof what we’ve been going through every day. It’s really disturbing and we have no clue when this would stop,” a resident lamented.

According to the residents companiesin the area, are not abiding by the air quality guidelines set by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This, they believe, had accounted for the insane pollution. They’ve therefore called on the appropriate authorities to act as quickly as practicable to avoid anything that could be catastrophic. Additionally they’re asking the authorities and health institutions to help check the respiratory disease which is on the rise.

Also, it’s been observed that the situation is has affected productivity in the area. Though there aren’t available figures to support that claim. However, residents maintain businessactivities as well as productivity levels haven’t been encouraging.

Rider Steel Limited—one of the companies in the enclave has admitted that pollution is a huge challenge in the area, noting the company’s s’ furnaces pose pollution problem to the community.

As part of measures to mitigate the problem, Finance Controller of Rider Steel, Prodeep Dash has revealed, the company had procured chimneys and other air pollution control systems which would help them meet EPA pollution limit.

Meanwhile, Tema EPA boss, Irene Opoku says the agency is enforcing compliance with the pollution limit. But the question is: How come residents at Kpone are facing the current problem, if indeed the agency has been enforcing compliance with the pollution limit?

Could it be that EPA is doing its job but the industries aren’t complying as expected of them? And what happens to companies that flout compliance order?

Lung disease
The term lung disease, according to online dictionary refers to many disorders affecting the lungs, such as asthma, COPD, (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) infections like influenza, pneumonia, and tuberculosis, lung cancer, and many other breathing problems. Some lung diseases can lead to respiratory failure

And here are some of the symptoms associated with the disease. Health experts say early stages of lung cancer maybe a slight cough or shortness of breath, depending on which part of the lung is affected. But there could be more symptoms over time, which include shortness of breath or wheezing, body fatigue, loss of appetite, or weakness,. Aside that cough can be chronic, dry with phlegm or with blood. Also common, are hoarseness, swollen nymph, nodes or weight loss.

The experts believe the disease progressions varies from person to person. Some people experience a rapid onset of symptoms due to lung damage caused by the disease. On the contrary others may experience a slower progression. Study has shown ‘the exact course of disease progression is difficult to predict; for that reason, doctors cannot be sure how rapidly IPF will progress for a given patient’.

“People with lung disease have difficulty breathing. Millions of people in the U.S. have lung disease. If all types of lung disease are lumped together, it is the number three killer in the United States” according to experts reports.

Perhaps what makes Kpone’s case seem more serious is the fact that, most or some industries in our part of the region don’t observe safety regulations either for their workers or the general public. A classic case is what you read awhile back. Compliance means nothing to them if they can get away with it.

It’s pretty ugly fact that companies pay little or no compensations to victims of industrial accidents plus the lack of education. Knowing the cause of the disease is one part of the equation but it’s also imperative to know the symptoms that accompany the disease and how to treat it.

Pollution in the world
World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that carbon emissions reach 40 billion metric tonneshigh, which presupposes the world faces dangerous climate change. And the worst offenders are China the United States and India.Also the report estimatedthat the world pumped 39.8 billion metric tons of CO2 in 2012.

It says more than 80% of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution are exposed to air quality levels that exceed WHO limits. While all regions of the world are affected, populations in low-income cities are the most impacted.

According to the latest urban air quality database, 98% of cities in low- and middle income countries with more than 100 000 inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines. However, in high-income countries, that percentage decreases to 56%.