The Savannah Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Abu Iddrisu, has cautioned stakeholders in the region to exercise restraint and consciousness regarding their daily activities on the environment because the impact will return to haunt them.
“My message to the Overlord, his chiefs and indigenes of the area is that the environment belongs to all of us. And so, the way we treat the environment will reflect the way the environment will treat us.”Dr Abu Iddrisu of EPA.
The regional director said this to remind stakeholders of the collective to exercise discipline to protect the environment.
Activities such as illegal winning of sand and gravel, indiscriminate felling of economic trees, illegal mining and commercial charcoal production, including the loitering of polythene materials and air pollution, are rampant in the region.
The EPA Director indicated his office’s readiness to team up with the necessary institutions and individuals to curtail the situation.
Dr Iddrisu said this when he paid a courtesy call on Yagbowura Bii-kunuto Soale Jewu I at the Jakpa palace in Damongo to introduce himself and his staff.
He said his outfit is in the region to help and needs the support of the Overlord and his chiefs to protect the environment and its endowed natural resources.
“I also want to say emphatically that I know together we will protect the environment and ensure sustainable management of the resources within the environment.” Regional Director of EPA.
He said that among the mandate of EPA in the region is, “For us in the EPA, the only thing we can do is to ensure that we promote government’s policies in collaboration with the chiefs and people of the area.” Dr Iddrisu added.
With a total land mass of 34,000 square kilometres, with the majority of it being agrarian, the Savannah Region is endowed with natural resources like gold deposits in the Bole traditional area, the White and Black Volta rivers, Mole National Park, and a rich ecosystem with vast vegetation for investment opportunities.
In an attempt to garner support for the protection of the abundance of natural resources in the region, Dr Abu Iddrisu assured the Overlord that.
“We [EPA] are ready to put our lives and energy on the line to ensure that the management of the environment in the Savannah Region is in accordance with the policies of government, and I strongly believe that we will get the support of Yagbowura and all stakeholders in Savannah,” Dr. stressed.
On his part, the Overlord of Gonja, Yagbonwura Bii-kunuto Soale Jewu, commended EPA for the bold step taken to partner with him and stakeholders to protect the environment.
“We are part and parcel of the environment, and EPA has my full support 24/7.” “So, don’t hesitate to visit the palace because we are together in this, and I’ve already told all chiefs and their subjects to be ambassadors of the environment. So, you don’t have a problem.”, Yagbowura Bii-kunuto Soale Jewu assured.