Chief advocates protection of the environment
Awulae Annor Adjaye III, Paramount Chief of Nzema East, on Tuesday underscored the need for stakeholders concerned about the environment to remain vigilant to jealously guide and guard against the ecology from exploitation.
This, he said is the only way to preserve natural resources in the Western Region for the present and succeeding generation.
Awulae Annor Adjaye made the call when he chaired the opening session of a three- day summit on the Western Regional Natural Resource and Environment held in Takoradi.
The summit, organised by the Western Region Development of NGOs (WERENGO) for related stakeholders is on the theme: “The impact of natural resources exploitation to women’s access to land and water resource.”
The traditional ruler entreated the stakeholders and people in the region to renew and rededicate themselves to ensure that “we shall never again sleep on our rights as our natural resources are exploited with little or no kick back to communities where the resources are harnessed”.
He urged them not to allow themselves to be marginalised in the distribution of the national cake of which the region stands tall in the contribution.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Regional Minister, Mr Ebenezer Teye Addo called for the enforcement of legislations that deter people from vandalising natural resources.
This, he said requires closer collaboration among the state actors, security agencies, NGOs governmental organisations and traditional authorities among others to ensure that all illegalities pertaining to natural resource use are clamped down.
He said the agenda must be pursued in a non-partisan manner to rid the society of miscreants who are only interested in their well-being at the expense of all.
Mr Addo noted that while forest reserves are under siege, water bodies and intake points are also under threat as well as sacred groves.
He said these natural resources are being plundered for timber and gold by unscrupulous people.
This unfortunate situation, Mr Addo said had impoverished the resources and diminished the chances of women in accessing them for their sustenance and economic survival.
He said the situation makes life precarious for women because not only have they been denied access to land for subsistence and commercial purposes, but their precious time is also wasted looking for water to meet their household needs.
Mr Kwame Mensah, National Coordinator of WERENGO expressed the need for the stakeholders to reflect on the negative impact of the fast destruction of the environment and come out with recommendations to feed the national institutional agenda.
Source: GNA