CHIEFS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR BUSH FIRES (PAGE 15, FEB 3, 2010)

The assembly member for Kpetoe in the Ho-East Constituency of the Adaklu-Anyigbe District, Mr James Agbemavi, has suggested that chiefs must be held accountable for deforestation and the outbreak of bush fires in their areas.
He said that would make them effectively monitor environmental issues in order to save the environment from degradation.
He said chiefs had the power to marshal the necessary forces to fight the growing canker of bush fires and deforestation.
Mr Agbemavi made the suggestion at a workshop on the theme, “Mainstreaming Climate Resilient Policies and Measures in the Restoration of the Tordzie River Basin in Adaklu-Anyigbe District” at Agotime-Kpetoe last weekend.
It was organised by an environmental non-governmental organisation, Actions for the Integrated Development of Deprived Communities(ADICODE), with joint sponsorship from United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), and United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) under the small grants environment fund.
According to the assembly member it should be possible to amend prevailing legislation on forestry and the environment to empower chiefs to police the environment at the local level because everything that happened there was almost known to them.
Speaking at the function, the Volta Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Torgbui Akliku Ahorney II, said excessive human exploitation of the environment had led to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and consequently global warming.
He said it was becoming more difficult to predict the weather these days because the pattern of dry and rainy seasons had shifted.
Torgbui Ahorney therefore called for concerted efforts to monitor climate change.
The Volta Regional Director of Forestry Services, Mr Winfred Bimah, said the nation had lost seven million hectares of forest between 1900 and 2000, and warned that if the trend was not reversed there would be no forest again and some species would go extinct.
He said the nation had only 1.6 million hectares remaining at 2000 out of 8.6 million hectares that existed at 1900.
Mr Bimah therefore announced an aggressive afforestation project aimed at regeneration of forests in the country, adding that the national plantation programme enjoined all district assemblies to acquire 300 hectares for tree growing projects.
He cited that more than GH¢3 million was generated from the Volta Region through the harvesting of forest products, and said they should take the national programme seriously, since it would serve as a big avenue for wealth generation for individuals and landowners.
In an address, the regional coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Henry Ametefe, urged district assemblies to enact bye-laws relevant to the protection of rivers and natural assets in their areas.