The gathering was made up of 250 participants, including students, teachers, government officials, opinion leaders and managers of non-governmental organizations.

Addressing the gathering, a representative of the Municipal Chief Executive, Mrs. Adwoa Amofa,  urged the students to practice good sanitary habits always.

In addition, he encouraged them to be vigilant and to sensitize their peers and parents who disregard sanitation messages. He also advised the students to properly dispose their waste at their school, homes and public places.

Mr. Wonderful Baisie Ghartey, Director of Shape Attitude Ghana, emphasized that environmental awareness education must be initiated to students from the basic school level.

For this reason, his organization is partnering the Zoomlion Foundation to establish sanitation clubs in schools of the Efutu district. The clubs are called Zoomkids Club. Club members will be trained to become peer educators on sanitation.

Mrs. Sarah Kyei, The National Coordinator for Zoomlion Foundation, added that sanitation clubs are necessary to drive home the message of clean environment into students. Therefore, 15 schools have been nominated to benefit from the Zoomkids Club project. She used the opportunity to inaugurate the 15 clubs on the day. The Zoomlion Foundation donated a dustbin to each of the 15 schools.

The Former Vice Chancellor of University of Education – Winneba, Head of Council of churches, Director of Institute for Educational Research and Innovation Studies and the Head of Centre for School and Community Science and Technology Studies, Chairman of A&C Development Company and Ghana Association of Former International Civil Servants (GAFICS), were the special guests at the programme.

The Zoomkids Club program is the flagship project of the Zoomlion Foundation. It is made up over 400 Clubs and with presence in all the ten regions of Ghana. Club members broaden their knowledge in environmental sanitation issues.

They serve as ambassadors for sanitation improvement through peer education. They also interact with other students through a network of over 400 schools.

Beneficiary schools occasionally receive sanitation improvement logistics from the Zoomlion Foundation. The logistics are used for cleanup activities to maintain a clean school environment.

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By: Philip Nii Lartey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Zoomlion Foundation, Shape Attitude Ghana mark World Environment Day appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The EPA said the activity falls in line with its mandate of preserving the lands and making them habitable.

Students from several second cycle institutions in the Kyebi area, together with the Okyeman Environmental Foundation, assisted the EPA in the tree planting exercise; planting seedlings such as Acacia, Mango, Cedrela, Mahogany and teak.

They also embarked on a float through the principal streets of Kyebi to create more awareness about the World Environment Day and the need to preserve the natural environment.

Speaking to the media after the exercise, John Pwamang, the acting Director of the EPA, said his outfit has been mandated to green Ghana which is in line with the trans-Africa program to create a green world to block the Sahara desert from moving southward.

He said, “We are endowed with a lot of natural resources, but in using them over the years to propel our economic development, we have not observed all the rules to preserve the environment to make it sustainable”.

John Pwamang added that, “there are illegal mining pits we have to work on as a case study of reclaiming the lands. Trees are very important, they are the basic form of life and many water bodies have sources from the forest.”

“There is a yearly program known as Greening Ghana by our outfit in the dry part of the country, as well as in line with the trans-Africa program to create a green world to block the Sahara desert from coming southwards. We will not relent on efforts to green Ghana so we are calling on all well-meaning Ghanaians, institutions both public and private individuals to join in tree planting exercises to help save the environment”.

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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Fighting galamsey: EPA engages in tree planting in Kyebi appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.