The report that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said ECOWAS is determined to restore constitutional rule in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said ECOWAS is determined to restore constitutional rule in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.
He said the regional body would also work assiduously towards impressing on the countries to do better with the security and humanitarian challenges they were facing.
President Akufo-Addo said this when he opened the sixth Extraordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on the situation in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso at the Jubilee House in Accra last Saturday.
The President, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS, noted that all were in line with the resolute commitment of ECOWAS to uphold democratic governance and institutions in the region, as enshrined in its protocol on good governance.
“We’ve had several meetings on the unfortunate situations in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. During our last summit, we were briefed on the social, political and security situations in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, which informed the decisions we took,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo said just as happened in March 2022, the meeting would continue to focus on the political instability in the region with the resurgence of coups d’etat since August 2020, with the hope of finding some lasting solutions to them.
The newspaper says that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has designated centres for people to collect seedlings for planting on the Green Ghana Day next Friday.
The centres are located on the premises of the ministry, the Forestry Commission (FC) Head Office at Achimota, opposite the main entrance to GIMPA, the National Theatre and the Trade Fair Centre at La, all in Accra.
The seedlings will also be deposited at all 50 Forestry Services Division (FSD) offices across the country, the 200 FSD ranges, regional coordinating councils (RCCs), metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), Parks and Gardens offices, community centres and designated chiefs’ palaces.
This was disclosed to the Daily Graphic by the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Forestry, Benito Owusu-Bio, ahead of the Green Ghana Day next Friday, during which 20 million tree seedlings are expected to be planted across the country.
The deputy minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Atwima Nwabiagya North, added that some shopping malls, schools and church premises would also serve as collection points for the seedlings.
Mr Owusu-Bio, who chairs the National Planning Committee of the Green Ghana Day, said over 20 million seedlings had already been nursed and prepared for planting.
“We have fruit trees — mango, coconut, orange, avocado; ornamental trees, such as flamboyant; fuel wood — cassia, acacia and militia, and timber trees, such as mahogany, Wawa, teak and Cinderella,” he said.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Dr Kwaku Afriyie, has said that it will be very difficult to immediately ban the use of plastics in the country.
According to Dr Afriyie, the current state of plastics management in the country required an intense public campaign to engage citizens, businesses, schools, hospitals, and other institutions to cultivate a positive attitude towards the fight against plastics pollution.
He said this yesterday in Accra, when Ghana joined the world to commemorate the World Environment Day 2022, which was held under the global theme “Only one earth,” with Ghana adopting the slogan, “Only One Earth”, Beat Plastic Pollution”.
The United Nations, during the Stockholm Conference in 1972 proclaimed June as the World Environment Day to highlight and create regular public awareness and education on emerging environmental issues.
The day will also serve as platform to engage people, communities, and governments around the world, and stimulate actions on critical environmental challenges facing the planet.
According to Dr Afriyie, the major problem confronting Ghana was the collection of single-use plastics also known as the under 20 microns plastics and its improper disposal.
He said over 30,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste are generated every day, with only 14 per cent collected, 38 per cent dumped in open spaces and 9 per cent dumped indiscriminately.
Dr Afriyie said, plastic wastes were becoming a major socio-economic developmental and environmental challenge which gravely impacts on biodiversity, tourism, infrastructure, fisheries, lands, and livelihoods.
“As a result of this situation, landscapes are immensely littered with plastic waste including nose masks, grocery store plastic bags, disposable plastic cups and takeout containers while beaches and oceans are equally polluted, chemical uptake in both plants and animals due to indiscriminate disposal methods,” he said.
The newspaper says that the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, has appealed to the member companies of Chamber of Commerce and Industry France Ghana (CCIFG) to support the country’s industrialisation agenda.
She said the objective of government was to industrialise the country through modernised agriculture.
Ms Asiamah-Adjei made the appeal in Accra last Friday during a dinner dance organised for members of the CCIFG.
Fourth in the series, the programme was graced by the First Lady, Samira Bawumia; Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah Adjei; Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre; Irchad Razaaly, European Union Ambassador to Ghana; Anne-Sophie Avé, French Ambassador to Ghana.
It was held under the auspices of SocieteGenerale Ghana PlC as the Platinum Sponsor, Orsam Oil and Gas Limited, CFAO Ghana Limited, SONAPACK, TotalEnergies, DECATHLON Ghana, Silver Star Auto Limited, DDP Outdoor Limited as gold sponsors and TechnipFMC, Bureau Veritas, PernodRicard, Airfrance KLM, CANAL Plus, as silver sponsors.
The Deputy Minister said there were so many opportunities in agriculture and government would rely on the sector to export value added products to attract a lot of foreign exchange.
To this end, she entreated the private sector, especially companies from France to invest in agriculture to modernise the sector.
She commended the CCIFG for the role it was playing to strengthen business relationship between Ghana and France and also to attract business to and from both countries.
The France Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Ave commended the CCIFG for the programme.
GIK/APA