Former President, Jerry John Rawlings, has begun a one-week tree planting exercise in parts of Accra to commemorate this year’s June 4 anniversary.
The exercise is in collaboration with Zoomlion Ghana Limited and the Forestry Commission.
Planting the first tree, Mr Rawlings urged the media to use their platforms to educate the Ghanaian populace on the need for them to protect the environment and plant more trees in order to live long.
He also called on civil society organizations and government agencies to inculcate the culture of tree planting in them to mitigate global warming and avert environmental degradation.
He further entreated government and especially the law enforcement agencies to ensure that the environmental sanitation laws are enforced rigidly.
On his part, the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies and Zoomlion Ghana Ltd, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong thanked President Rawlings for inviting Zoomlion to join in the tree planting exercise.
He recounted how Zoomlion since 2007 has been partnering with different stakeholders in tree planting and clean up exercises.
He also appealed to the media to continue to sensitize the people against tree felling and littering among others to have an enhanced environment in Ghana, saying, “if the city of Dubai is the way it is today on a desert, Ghana can do better but not without the conscientious efforts of the citizenry to keep a clean and beautiful environment.”
Dr Agyepong asked every Ghanaian to be a watchdog to ensure that trees are not felled for construction purposes unless the necessary precautionary measures were taken with the state agencies.
He gave the assurance that his outfit will continue to plant as many trees as it can and support all others who will seek its collaboration in the environmental and sanitation space.
The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Samuel Ofusu Ampofo said the party was built on the tenets of discipline of which environmental care is one and considering the fact that the environment is being degraded on a daily basis it was appropriate for the party to encourage tree planting towards its anniversary.
Over three hundred trees were planted along the Shiashie – Legon Street and more to be added across the city of Accra.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
