Meat Burning: RVHA Summons Three Commissioners

The Rivers State House of Assembly (RVHA) has summoned commissioners of Agriculture, Health and Environment to appear before its next plenary session in Port Harcourt.
The summons followed a motion last Tuesday by the lawmaker representing Asari-toru Constituency II, Hon Enemi George on the use of  tyres by abattoirs in the state to burn meat for consumption.
George called on the Assembly to intervene in the long standing practice of using tyres to burn meat for consumption, a situation he described as not only dangerous to health, but has contributed to black soot in the state.
Mr speaker, tyres are made of synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric wire, carbon black and numerous chemical compound.
“Mr speaker, the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry revealed that tyres contain several heavy weight metals such as lead, zinc and copper, that could be carcinogenic when exposed to consumers over a long time.
“Mr speaker, this means that Rivers’ people have been injected with large quantities of those substances, and to save the lives of people, we have to take serious steps to reverse the trend”, George stated.
Following debates on the motion, the speaker of the House, Rt Hon Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani announced the resolution of the House to summon commissioners of the state ministries of Health, Environment, and Agriculture to furnish the House on the reasons behind the use of tyres in burning  livestocks for consumption and other related environmental issues.
The speaker said the use of motor tyres for the burning of animals for consumption exposed citizens of the state to different deadly diseases and environmental challenges.
He said that it was true that tyres was made of synthetic rubber, fabric wire, carbon black and numerous toxic chemical compounds that are dangerous to health.
According to the speaker, research  has shown that some metal residues are still retained in cattle after burning, which could be injurious and unsafe for human consumption.
14 lawmakers present in the plenary session supported the motion, while II others supported the invitation of the commissioners.
However, the speaker, Ibani directed the clerk of the House, Chief Standford Oba, to forward an invitation letter to the commissioners concerned.

Enoch Epelle