Former President Jerry John Rawlings, Zoomlion Ghana Limited and the Forestry Commission have begun a one-week tree planting exercise in parts of Accra to commemorate this year’s June 4 Anniversary.
Mr Rawlings led junior officers on June 4 in a revolution in 1979 that arose out of a combination of factors such as corruption, bad governance, lack of discipline and frustration among the general public.
Planting the first tree, Mr Rawlings urged the Ghanaian media to use their platforms to educate the Ghanaian populace on the need to protect the environment and plant more trees.
He called on civil society organisations and government agencies to embrace the culture of tree planting to mitigate global warming and avert environmental degradation.
Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, planting a tree
He also entreated the government, especially law enforcement agencies to ensure that environmental sanitation laws are enforced rigidly.
He said community policing was the best strategy to hold unpatriotic Ghanaians to abide by the laws of Ghana.
On his part, the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies and Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong thanked President Rawlings for inviting Zoomlion to join in the tree planting exercise. He recounted how Zoomlion since 2007 had been partnering with different stakeholders in tree planting and clean up exercises.
He appealed to the media to continue to sensitise the people against tree felling and littering among others to have an enhanced environment in Ghana.
He said if the city of Dubai is the way it is today on a desert, Ghana could do better but not without the conscientious efforts of the citizenry to keep a cleaned and beautiful environment.
Dr Agyepong asked every Ghanaian to be a watch dog to ensure that trees are not cut down for construction purposes unless the necessary precautionary measures are taken.
Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, planting a tree
He gave the assurance that his outfit will continue to plant as many trees as it can and support all others who will seek it’s collaboration in the environmental and sanitation space.
The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo said the party was built on the tenets of discipline of which environmental care was part of.
He said considering the fact that the environment is being degraded on daily basis it was appropriate for the party to encourage tree planting towards its anniversary.
Over 300 trees were planted along the Shiashie – Legon Street with more to be added across the city of Accra.
Source: Adomonline.com