‘Ghana needs holistic ways to fight environmental degradation’ – Prof Mike Oquaye
The Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye has tasked the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Environment, Science and Technology and Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to develop tools to fight environmental degradation.
According to him, the joint Committee should recommend punitive measures for people involved in environmental degradation.
He stated that the Joint Committee must undertake a thorough review of the existing legal systems with the view to improving laws on the environment. Issuing a directive after a debate on World Environment Day, the Speaker said Ghanaians were fed up with the rate of environmental degradation.
“We cannot continue this way, those recommendations would then work with appropriate authority to have holistic and biting on matters relating to environmental degradation,” he said.
Earlier this month an appeal was made to the youth of Ghana to take the keen interest in the planting of and caring of trees to help avert the effects of deforestation and global warming in Ghana.
This appeal was made at the launch of the Green Republic Project, a youth-led tree planting project that seeks to plant about 20 million trees across Ghana by the year 2028.
The convener for the Green Republic Project, Nana Yaw Osei-Darkwa employed the youth to be conscious of their environment to preserve it for the future.
“As leaders of tomorrow, the youth of Ghana have a sacred responsibility to play active roles in finding lasting solutions to challenges of the present that has the potential to impact the future negatively. One of such challenges remains deforestation and the effects of climate change and global warming,” Mr Osei-Darkwa stated.
The Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) also collaborated with the Environmental Protection Agency to introduce vehicle emission tests to check environmental pollution.
The new policy which is to take effect within the fourth quarter of 2018 has already reached the final stages in its implementation.
Source: citinewsroom.com
