Accra, July 18 (IANS/MAP) The city of Kumasi in Ghana has launched a massive tree-plantation drive at Atasemanso town as part of a step-by-step effort to restore the city's beautiful scenery, media reports said on Tuesday.
Launched by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), the drive is being conducted with support from the environmental NGO Friends of River and Water Bodies and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG).
Metropolitan Chief Executive Osei Asibey Antwi said they had targeted to plant 20,000 tree seedlings across the city by the close of the year.
It is expected that 1,000 of these would be planted in the Nhyiaeso sub-metropolitan area alone, he said.
Antwi said he was eager to see the greenery return to the city, which earned it the accolade "Garden City of West Africa".
He added that steps had been taken to protect the trees, nurture their growth and prevent them from being destroyed.
The MCE made references to the high level of pollution associated with the growing industrialization and urbanisation and said it was time people acted together to safeguard the environment.
He spoke of the determination of the assembly to deepen commitment with people to motivate them to take to up tree-planting.
Executive Director of the Friends of River and Water Bodies Nana Dwomoh Sarpong called for stiffer punishment for those who flouted environmental-sanitation by-laws of the assemblies.
--IANS/MAP
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