Graphic reporter honoured at Volta GJA awards

The Volta Regional correspondent of the Daily Graphic, Mrs Mary Anane-Amponsah, picked an award as the best Economic/Business journalist of the region during the third edition of the Volta/Oti GJA Regional Awards held on the theme: "Environmental Cleanliness: Media as vanguard, don't drop that litter".

It was her second time of winning the award, having first won it last year for her outstanding write-ups on economic and business issues in the region.

Award winners

The third Volta/Oti GJA awards saw 12 journalists being honoured for works adjudged to be outstanding for the year 2019.

A Citi FM/CitiTV reporter, Benjamin K. Aklama, emerged the overall best journalist in the region, while Savior Amenyedzi of the Jubilee Radio, Keta won the most promising journalist of the region.

A former Graphic correspondent, Mr Timothy Dzamboe, was also honoured for his long service as a journalist and contribution to the development of the region.

The President of the GJA, Mr Roland Affail Monney, congratulated all the winners and urged journalists in the region to sharpen their appetite for national awards, saying those awards were the pinnacle of professional achievements in the local media.

Fight against filth

Mr Monney urged the media to allocate a segment of the media space for campaign against filth.

He observed that the chronic failure to keep the environment clean as a nation could be blamed on rotten attitudes of the people, and, thus, the need for practitioners to educate and sensitise the public on the consequences of indiscriminate littering.

"We believe, however, that this is not an insoluble problem; we must, therefore, declare that the war against filth must be won," he added.

Commendation

The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, commended the Volta/Oti GJA Chapter for its tremendous contribution to the economic development and prosperity of the area.

He noted that the theme was appropriate as it gave proper meaning to the advocacy embarked upon by various agencies to create awareness and make the environment cleaner.

"It is, therefore, refreshing to note that the GJA has joined the fight against open defecation and littering with the aim of promoting decent and healthy living conditions for the people," he said.

He charged the public to assume the responsibility of keeping the environment clean and safe.

A Wash Consultant, Mr Yaw Attah Arhin, tasked the government to make waste management a profitable venture in the country by making a vigorous effort towards waste recycling.

Only two per cent of plastic waste generated in Ghana was recycled, he said, adding that "fortunately, 90 per cent of all plastic waste in the country can be recycled.”