Benue Government to Use Generators’ Tax to ‘Maintain Ozone Layer’
The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) of Benue State has explained why it receives N50,000 tax yearly from private residents and up to N150,000 naira from business outfits across the state, according to REPORTERS. Terna Francis, the media assistant to the Chairman of the board, Mrs Mimi Orubibi, while addressing newsmen in Makurdi said that the tax would be used by the government for the ‘maintenance of the Ozone layer’ depleted by fumes emitted from the generators.
“When these levies are collected, they are channeled towards the maintenance of the ozone layer to avoid natural disaster”, he ridiculously explained.
When asked how they intended to carry out such task, considering the fact that the ozone layer is a belt of naturally occurring ozone gas that sits about 30 kilometers above the earth, he declined comment.
The ozone layer absorbs 97 to 99 per cent of the sun’s medium frequency ultra-violet light (from about 200 nm to 315 nm wave length), which otherwise would potentially damage exposed life forms near the surface.
The United Nations General Assembly has designated September 16 as the International Day for The Preservation of the Ozone Layer.
The breakdown of ozone in the stratosphere results in reduced absorption of ultraviolet radiation. Consequently, unabsorbed and dangerous ultraviolet radiation is able to reach the Earth’s surface at a higher intensity. Ozone levels have dropped by a worldwide average of about 4 percent since the late 1970s. For approximately 5 percent of the Earth’s surface, around the north and south poles, much larger seasonal declines have been seen, and are described as ‘ozone holes’.
Over the years, international bodies and organisations, as well as well renowned scientists have been seeking and coming up with relevant ways to prevent the depletion of this extremely important ozone layer. Therefore it is still a wonder why the Benue state government has decided to take on such massive projects by the use of tax.
