Akyem Oda schoolchildren receive training on environmental protection
The Birim Central Municipal Assembly, in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Forestry Commission (FC), has organised a seminar on environmental protection for 40 schoolchildren from three selected basic schools at Akyem Oda.
The seminar was on the theme: “Ending plastic pollution — reduce, reuse and recycle”. It formed part of this year’s World Environmental Day celebration.
Addressing the schoolchildren, the Birim Central Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Solomon Kusi-Brakol, advised them not to pollute the environment by throwing garbage away indiscriminately but dumping same in waste beans.
He said schoolchildren should educate their parents, siblings and peers on the importance of environmental protection to minimise the outbreak of diseases.
Mr Kusi-Brako urged them to plant and nurture trees in their environment and nurture them to grow.
He gave the assurance that any child who would plant trees and nurture them for six months would be rewarded by the municipal assembly.
The Assistant Programme Officer of the EPA at Akyem Oda, Kwame Asare, advised schoolchildren to practise the reuse of plastics, reduce plastic use and try to recycle plastic materials, as the environment was their life.
He said the World Environment Day commemoration was very significant for the EPA, as the lead public institution in protecting the environment in Ghana.
The Municipal Director of the NCCE, Rejoice Biscoff, said the seminar was to create awareness on how people should protect the environment, especially how to deal with plastic pollution.
She emphasised that it was everybody’s responsibility to protect the environment, especially schoolchildren who were the future of Ghana.
An officer of the Oda Forestry Services Division of the Forestry Commission, Mark Alhassan Yakubu, advised the participants to plant more trees in their environment and nurture them to mitigate the effects of climate change.
He also educated them on the Tree for Life Programme to restore degraded lands and conserve the environment.
The MCE led the participants to plant mango and acacia trees around the municipal assembly and the municipal library at Akyem Oda.
