Former Prez Rawlings bemoans wanton destruction of environment

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has bemoaned the wanton destruction of the country’s environment under the watch of national institutions with relevant mandates to protect the environment.

He said the situation was a reflection of the level of irresponsibility and indiscipline on the part of national leadership.

He also said a combination of man-made factors, including the construction of structures on watercourses, lack of monitoring of fuel dumps and the indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains under the watchful eyes of state authorities, had caused the terrible disaster of June 3, 2015.

“Nothing reflects our irresponsibility and indiscipline more than the neglect of our environment. Nothing reflects the poor standards and authority of a government like the environment. Nothing reflects the lawlessness in the country as the neglect of its environment,” he said.

Sense of discipline

He said the protection of the environment was the quickest way for the government or local authority to demonstrate its sense of discipline. 

The former president said this at the commemoration of the June 4, 1979 uprising in Accra on Saturday.

The day was used to honour the memories of those who died in the coup that was organised by some junior officers of the military, led by then Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, against the abuse of power by some political and military leaders at the time.

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Afotey Agbo, Brigadier General Mensah Nunoo and the Minister of Defence, Dr Benjamin Kumbour, lit the perpetual flame while wreaths were laid on behalf of the people of Ghana, the security agencies, the cadre corps, traditional rulers, farmers and fishermen, as well as the youth.

Degradation of the environment

Former President Rawlings said the corruption of the environment was the quickest way to degrade human self-worth, adding that a government or local authority that would destroy trees or watch the degradation of its environment could not expect people to behave responsibly in other facets of their lives or even respect their own government.

Touching on the water situation in the country, he said it had become dire because of the abuse of water bodies through the dumping of non-biodegradable waste like plastics, metals, chemicals and all other poisonous materials into the country’s water bodies.

“It is further exacerbated by the senseless abuse of our rivers and lakes in the new found craze for illegal mining. It is tragic to see rivers such as the Ankobra, Pra and Offin and parts of the Volta which used to provide clean potable water to communities now turned into a flow of mud and grime,” he lamented.

‘Senseless hacking down of trees’

The former president also expressed reservation about what he termed “the hacking down of trees” that were planted along the Tema Motorway to the Akosombo area.

“Trees that had been planted along the Tema Motorway to Akosombo road were brutally hacked down a few months ago. Not even the traders who have decided to colonise the shoulders of our urban roads could protect these shade-providing trees,” he noted with concern.

He said during his time in office, he would not construct roads without ensuring that trees were planted along the sides of the road.

“But the extra effort of applying human labour to plant trees and subsequently hack them down for firewood is a reflection of the thoughtlessness of both the contractor, the political authority and the little-mindedness of those who could not protect the trees,” he emphasised.

He said the branches of the trees that lined the Tema-Akosombo route could have been pruned to save the electrical lines and provide the shade they were intended to.

Perpetuation of corruption

“But to butcher them in the manner that was done contributes swiftly to the perpetuation of corruption,” he said.

One other unfortunate development, the ex-president said, was the cutting down of the green plants at the centre of the motorway, which, according to him, could have been nurtured or left alone to provide a curtain or a wall effect in the centre of the motorway and to shield the irresponsible highlights from one lane into the other.

“But no, those plants have been chopped down. I had hoped this irresponsibility would come to an end after 2008 but as soon as the new government became well-feeted we were back to business as usual,” he observed. 

He said the people and the government had the responsibility to ensure that the right actions were taken to prevent  such painful things from happening again.

Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh