CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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Congo-Brazzaville |
ECOLOGY
Brazzaville has become one of Central Africa’s most polluted cities.
Exhaust fumes from cars running on adulterated petrol are the main cause of pollution.
There’s cause for concern because of the incidence of many respiratory diseases
Every day, car and motor bike drivers, and pedestrians in Brazzaville and other urban centres, suffocate under thick black fumes, making the visibility almost nil and breathing difficult. The air becomes unbreathable because of carbon dioxide coming from exhaust pipes, and also because of the amount of domestic rubbish and plastic waste being incinerated. Current practice is to cover one’s nose with a handkerchief when passing the rubbish heaps. Speaking during a seminar in Brazzaville on the recycling of plastic bags in Brazzaville, a biology teacher said: «If drastic measures are not soon taken to try to clean up the city, there’s a danger that all types of disease will once again appear on the scene».
The same fear is expressed by many Congolese health specialists. They estimate that «we are risking a health catastrophe». Dr Banouzi is a specialist in respiratory diseases. He warns: «In future years there’ll be many respiratory tract cancer cases. For the moment, bronchitis, colds, and pneumonia are increasing. At one time, pneumonia and AIDS were on a par vis à vis their long-term fatal consequences, but now it’s possible to control pneumonia and even cure it.
Large numbers of second-hand cars are imported from Europe and they’re the main cause of pollution. Customs and Excise don’t have any official statistics on the number of old imported cars. A rough estimate for the period 1990-2000 could be as high as 10,000, with their numbers increasing daily.
Adulterated leaded fuel
Robert Ngoma is a Congolese journalist. Recently, he completed an investigation into Congo’s fuel situation. He states: «The sad thing is that most of these vehicles’ owners use adulterated petrol coming from Nigeria with a heavy dose of engine oil added to it. That’s why there’s so much smoke coming from the exhaust pipe — just as if a tyre is burning.» Malonga Benoît, a researcher, is even more scathing. He also mentions the bad quality of fuel used. He explains: «When vehicles use leaded petrol, its very harmful to people’s health, especially children».
In January, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced that most African countries would finish with leaded petrol within five years. An UNEP-sponsored investigation from Nairobi shows that just four African countries — Egypt, Lybia, Mauritius and Sudan presently have «unleaded fuel». This year, four other countries or overseas territories — Morocco, Réunion, Tunisia and Western Sahara —will join this initiative. More than twenty countries are examining how to give up leaded petrol by 2006. 90% of world fuel consumption is now «unleaded». The remaining 10% is found in southern hemisphere countries, especially in Africa. UNEP‘s executive director, Mr. Klaus Toepfer, says there’s technical reasons why leaded petrol is still being used, but the public don’t seem to be aware of the dangers to health when using leaded fuel.
In Congo-Brazzaville, however, there doesn’t seem to be any move towards changing over from leaded to unleaded fuel. Dangerous practices such as mixing paraffin with petrol are still continuing. This practice is current in the small retail outlets where the petrol is smuggled from «across the border» (these filling stations are known as the «Khadaffi»). All this contributes to poisoning the atmosphere and ruining the engines of cars and motor bikes which avoid the rigorous Ministry of Transport inspections.
Benoît Malonga thinks it’s necessary to try to limit the importation of second hand vehicles so as to halt pollution. However, Jean-Claude, who is a taxi driver, thinks otherwise. «These vehicles render an enormous service and the State obtains a considerable revenue from them. O.K. Our job is not much to write home about but at least it helps people get about».
Because it’s proving impossible to stop the imports, maybe it would be possible to lay down some rules concerning second-hand vehicles imported into Congo, especially regarding their age. The vehicle should not be more than twenty years old. The way things are, our country is rapidly becoming the rubbish dump for Western countries. Many African countries simply don’t have the means, trained personnel and background structures to legislate against air pollution. If they did, the environment could effectively be protected.