Volta Chiefs Worried Over Destruction of Environment

The Chief of Agbokofe in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District, Togbe Amuzu Agbo III, has expressed concern over the rate at which the environment is being destroyed by people who engage in the commercial production of charcoal and firewood over the years.

He said even though people in the community also prepare charcoal and firewood through the same process, theirs was meant for domestic use, which had lesser effects on the vegetation, as compared to those in the commercial production of charcoal and firewood.

Togbe Amuzu Agbo, who was speaking to the Volta File at Agbokope on the issue, disclosed that it was unfortunate that rich people in society were behind the negative practice, saying these well-to-do people had employed a number of the youth who produced charcoal and firewood on a commercial basis, and were paid monthly for their efforts.

The chief continued that it was unfortunate that those involved in the lucrative business would bring ‘big’ vehicles and load the charcoal and firewood to the towns and cities to make money, while the local people remained poor, and suffered the consequences of such negative practices, which included inconsistent weather patterns, and its accompanying effects on the activities of the people.

Togbe Amuzu Agbo pointed out that officials from the Forestry Commission visited them, advised them to grow trees, and promised to provide the seedlings, but the people did not show much interest in the tree growing activity, because they knew that their efforts would come to nothing if the commercial charcoal and firewood producers were allowed to continue with their nefarious activities.

When the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Mr. Michael Adjaho, was contacted, he expressed worry about the development, and said the Assembly was only aware of production of charcoal for domestic use, but on a commercial basis by rich people living outside the area was not known to the Assembly.

Mr. Adzaho stressed that the revelation made by the chief was frightening, and gave the assurance that the Assembly would meet over the issue, and evolve strategies with the Forestry Commission to halt the activities of the commercial charcoal and firewood producers in the District.

In a related development, the Krachi Traditional Council has also put in place measures to reduce the rampant destruction of the environment, and that anybody found to have engaged in the negative practice would be reported to the chief in that community for the appropriate sanctions, as the massive destruction of the environment in the area is on the increase.

The President of the Krachi Traditional Council, Nana Mprah Besemuna III, who made this known to this paper after a joint educational programme by the Krachi-West District Assembly and the District National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) at Kete-Krachi, pointed out that the traditional council had decided to take punitive measures against offenders in support of the District Assembly.

Nana Mprah Besemuna said chiefs in the traditional area had noted with concern the rapid rate at which people cut trees for the production of charcoal, which informed the Council’s decision, noting that the chiefs were not against the production of charcoal for domestic use, but the production of it for commercial purposes was of concern to the chiefs and the people.

The Krachiwura explained that reports reaching the Traditional Council were that those who engage in agricultural activities in the area had stopped and resorted to commercial production of charcoal, a situation which sees many articulated vehicles transporting the product to Accra, Tema and other cities and towns.

He stressed that the traditional authorities would not overlook the negative practice, which had far reaching consequences on the lives of the people, saying the destruction of the environment would not only result in climatic changes, but would turn the area into a desert.

Nana Mprah Besemuna observed that the trees used for the production of charcoal in commercial quantities were mostly economic trees such as” mahogany and dawadawa” trees, which take 12 to 17 years to mature, and reaffirmed the chiefs’ resolve to deal with recalcitrant persons who would continue with the negative practice.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Krachi-West, Mr. Moses Kwame Punyah, said in the wake of the negative practices of destruction of the environment, the Assembly would re-enforce its environmental by-laws to deter people from engaging in practices that were likely to create environmental problems for the people in the area.

Mr. Punyah therefore called on assembly members in their respective communities, to intensify education on the need to preserve the environment through the healthy practice of tree-growing, in order to ensure that the vegetation was protected for the benefit of the present and future generations.

The DCE noted that the Assembly’s development efforts would not yield any positive results if people continued to thwart steps being taking to improve on the living conditions of the people, adding that development could only thrive in a healthy and protected environment, and asked those in the negative practice to change their attitudes.

The Krachi-West District NADMO Coordinator, Mr. Amuda Romeo, cautioned the people against human activities that would lead to disasters, saying his outfit had embarked on a number of public education activities to create the necessary awareness about the negative implications about the activities of the people in the area.

“People should be proactive to issues concerning environmental protection, because the strong winds that normally destroy houses are due to destructive activities on the environment. People always have it in mind that government will always support them when it occurs, yes, government would, but for how long will government continue to be supporting people in that condition, when the victims themselves contributed to the occurrences of the disaster.”