GNA
Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, Okyehene, on
Wednesday called for the re-location of Ministries of Forestry, Land and Natural Resources; Food and Agriculture; and Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) to the hinterland for administrative efficiency.
�Ministry of Forestry, Lands and Natural Resources exist to ensure the sustainable management and judicious utilisation of the nation�s lands, forestry and wildlife, while Ministry of Food and Agriculture is to create
an environment for sustainable growth and development in the agricultural Sector.
�The LGRD exists to promote the establishment and development of a vibrant and well resourced decentralised system of local government, ensure good governance and balanced rural based development�what are they doing in
Accra when the bulk of their operations are in the hinterlands,� Osagyefuo Ofori Panin II queried at a public forum in Accra.
The public forum under the theme: �Our Environment, Our Economy, Our Democracy,� was organised by Governance Africa Foundation, an independent non-governmental organisation to discuss the inter-connected impact the management or mismanagement of one or the other potentially makes on national development.
It was attended by security personnel, academia, non-governmental agencies, traditional rulers, politicians and cross section of the public.
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin II, who chaired the discussion, condemned the attitude of some ministers of State both in the present and past governments towards environmental issues� �nothing in particular why none of the two
Ministers, Lands and Natural Resources; and Science and Environment, who were on the programme to present papers failed to attend.
�I sometimes wonder whether our policy makers care about our environment�if this discussion was held outside this country, they would have run to attend but just at their doorsteps they refused to attend,� he stated.
Speaking with obsession and calculated gesticulation, Osagyefuo Ofori Panin II said since independence, the country had not experienced any meaningful transformation from the central government �yet we have the audacity to say chiefs don�t matter in decision making of this country.
�The 1992 Constitution recognises chiefs as traditional custodians but unfortunately the same Constitution vested in the President public lands yet we are barred from defending our resources�.you are the landlord, but have
no authority to collect rent,� he said.
He said: �under the leadership of traditional rulers, who modern day saints consider as primitive, instituted measures, norms customs and traditions, which protected the environment, water bodies, and echo-system.
�But with all our modern education today, we are rather destroying what our ancestors protected and built for us, activities of illegal miners are destroying our country but the security agencies sit without concern�.
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin II cautioned: �I have done all within my powers to stop illegal mining and chainsaw operating to no avail�they are stubborn because they are not afraid of Okyehene, am going to mobilise my people to defend our land�.
He called for proactive environmental protection brigade to defend the lands and natural resources.
Mr Kwaku Baa-Owusu, Executive Director of Governance Africa Foundation, called for vigorous campaign for the protection of the environment,
stressing �we are killing the environment slowly through our uncoordinated activities and the earlier we rise up to defend it, our future is bleak�.
He emphasised that climate change was human induced problem, which called for attitudinal change, development pattern and enforcement of laws.
Mr Baa-Owusu said the earth was not being left alone, people were taking actions that could change the earth and its climate in significant
ways. He said the single human activity that was likely to have a large impact on the climate, was the burning of "fossil fuels" such as coal, oil
and gas.
He said �these fuels contain carbon. Burning them makes carbon dioxide gas. Since the early 1800s, when people began burning large amounts of coal and oil, the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 per cent, and average global temperature appears to have risen between one degree (1�) and two degrees (2�)Fahrenheit.
Mr Baa-Owusu said carbon dioxide gas trapped solar heat in the atmosphere, partly in the same way as glass trapped solar heat in a sunroom
or a greenhouse.
The result is that, if everything else stayed unchanged, the average temperature of the atmosphere would increase. As people burn more fossil fuel for energy, they add more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. If this goes on long enough, the average temperature of the atmosphere would almost certainly rise.
Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Omanhene of Essikadu Traditional Area expressed concern about indiscipline, lawlessness and inapt attitude towards development and the environment.