Dome-Faase (GA/R), 17 Aug., GNA- The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is assisting 45 communities along the Densu River in the Ga West District to plant 600,000 tree seedlings to reforestate the banks of the water body.

The programme, which started last February, was to reduce the alarming rate of deforestation along the banks, worsened by indiscriminate bush burning, sand winning and agricultural activities thereby gradually 'killing' the Densu River basin. Communities involved in the exercise included Dome-Faase, Fankyenekor, Mammomoman and Ayitey Koto.

Mr Akwasi Agyemang, Field Project Officer-ADRA Ghana, who announced work on the project when he addressed the chiefs and people of the communities at Dome-Faase, expressed regret that even though the River played a significant role in the economic life of the people, it was one of the most polluted water bodies in the country.

He said communities that engaged in fishing in the Densu could no longer depend on that activity for a living because of silt deposited from settlements and farms along the river banks.

Mr Agyemang cautioned the people against the indiscriminate application of agrochemicals and fertilisers that leached into the river, especially on pineapple and vegetable farms.

He expressed worry that human waste from public and private places of convenience was being disposed directly into the Adeeso River, a tributary of the Densu at Adeeso in the Eastern Region. He said the ADRA provided the tree seedlings and food for people who participated in the tree planting and monitored the project to ensure its success.

Mrs Essie Logah, Field Project Officer of ADRA in charge of Health and Nutrition, urged the people living along the Densu to support the reforestation programme.

She also appealed to them to support all measures aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, and reminded them that the disease was real and that no known cure had been found to it yet.