Ghana EPA official calls for policy on LPG stations
Mr Isaac Osei, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has called for a national policy to guide the setting up of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) filling stations in the country.
He expressed concern about the rampant and unauthorized installation of gas filling stations in public places and its repercussions to human life because of the lack of strict policy guideline.
Mr Osei made the call when he interacted with some media practitioners at a press soiree in Sunyani. Discussions centered on pertinent issues that bordered on the general environment.
He emphasized worry about unofficial location and installation of telecommunication masks, poor waste management and misapplication of pesticides, which posed as serious threat to the life of the general public.
Mr Osei explained that the agency recognized the media as key partners in dissemination of environmental information and stressed the need for a broader collaboration between both organisations to protect the environment.
He said issues concerning the environment should not be seen as the sole responsibility of the agency and appealed to the general public to also show concern by providing the EPA with information that tended to degenerate the environment.
Mr Osei advised the media to crosscheck their facts especially on issues concerning the H1N1 and other influenzas in order not to create unnecessary fear and panic in the mind of the public.
In another development, the EPA in collaboration with the chiefs and people of Kato in Berekum Municipality are developing the Mfensi Sacred Grove at Kato to boost eco-tourism.
To this end, the Agency and the community had cultivated 51,600 varieties of indigenous species such as cindralla, framo, wawa and Kyenkyen at the 40 hectare sacred grove.
Mr Osei said this when he and Nana Afia Siraa Ababio III, queen mother of Kato conducted some newsmen round the grove on Friday.
He said the ultimate goal of the agency was to ensure that the grove would be a kind of “miniature Kakum” for the people Kato and Brong-Ahafo in general and appealed to all and sundry to lend their support.
Mr Osei expressed appreciation to the queen mother for her commitment to the development of the grove.
Nana Afia Siraa Ababio III on her part said an 11-member committee had been set up to manage the grove.
Nana Afia Siraa Ababio III appealed to the media to help showcase the rich potentials at the grove to the international community to attract tourists into the area.
Source: GNA