By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja
Residents of the Gadumo section of the Lokoja-Ajaokuta road, particularly those living close to the road, have appealed to the contractor handling the rehabilitation of the section of the road to consider constant wetting of the road, as a matter urgency, to save them from dust related diseases.
They made the appeal in separate interview with the correspondent of The Reporters,an online media platform in Gadumo on Sunday.
Mr Attai Shuaibu, described the level of dust that characterised the rehabilitation of the road as alarming, stressing that if not checked, the development could to pose various health challenges to the public.
“For those of us whose houses are close to the road, we have started noticing some difficulties in breathing since the contractor started work on the road.
“Normally in situation like this, particularly now that we are in dry season, he ought to be applying water to the road to reduce the level of dust accompanying the rebilitation work.This I have not seen so far,”he said.
Another resident, Alhaji Muhammad Seidu, said he had to rush one of children to the hospital on Saturday as she complained of difficulty to breath well.
“Though her health is stable for now, the medical doctor that attended to her warned us not to expose her to dust too much to avoid her coming in contact with dust related diseases,” he said.
Yet another resident, Kabir Abdulkareem, told our correspondent that if the dust continued and some thing is not done to abate it on time, he would look for alternative accommodation in other locations far from Gadumo.
“As an asthma patient, I cannot risk staying in Gadumo too long for now inview of the current dust infected condition of the road. As you, asthma patients are not safe staying in too much dusty environment,”he said.
Some other residents, however, commended the government for giving thought and action to the rehabilitation of the road, adding that the development would ease transportation for not only residents of kogi state but other Nigerians the state to the northern and southern and eastern part of the country, upon completion.
According to health experts, explained in Wikipedia, prolonged exposure to dust can cause irritation to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract and can lead a range of serious lung diseases, including silicosis, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.