The Government of Rivers State has called on members of the society to collaborate to end activities of illegal refineries popularly known as kpofire in the state.
Speaking at an event on Wednesday organised by his ministry, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, said activities of the illegal refiners are responsible for incessant fire outbreaks and environmental pollution witnessed in the state.
According to him, “Hardly any day passes that you will not get reports of incidents of fire outbreak and investigations have revealed that most of these fire incidents are as a result of stockpiling of adulterated petroleum products.
“Government cannot stop this trend without the cooperation of the citizens and the law enforcement agencies. We are appealing that we need to do something that as we enter into the new year, let us have a collective resolve as a people to ensure our environment is not polluted any more.
“It should concern everyone. Apart from the fire hazards that we are experiencing, the health implication of what we are seeing in Port Harcourt today is something that should worry anyone living and doing business here in Rivers State.”
The commissioner also called on the media to engage in public campaigns against kpofire activities in Rivers State.
Nsirim, while condemneding the activities of some security operatives, who collect money from operators of the illegal petroleum products said:
“We cannot be our own enemies. We must collectively fight this syndrome. The hazard we are facing is becoming worrisome. If you live and do business here in Rivers State, this kpofire syndrome should concern you, and I think the time has come for us to put an end to this menace.”
He said the idea behind the second phase of the #OurStateOurResponsibility advocacy campaign was to mobilise cross-spectrum of the Rivers society to be part of the New Rivers vision.
“It is a vision that will engineer our collective understanding that Rivers State belongs to all of us, whether you are an indigene or not, as long as you live and do business here, Rivers State belongs to you,” he noted.
According to him, the theme song competition awards is a milestone in the quest to strengthen citizens’ participation in governance in Rivers State.
