Akim Oda, - Okoforobour Agyeman-Attafuah the fourth, Omanhene of the Akim Kotoku Traditional area, has called for concerted efforts from chiefs to help arrest environmental degradation to save the ecology. He reminded chiefs that if steps are not taken to check the alarming rate at which the forests are being depleted, sooner or later the rich vegetation will be turned into a desert. Okoforobour Agyeman Attafuah who was addressing a traditional council meeting at Akim Oda yesterday, urged chiefs to educate their people to know that timber trees can only be felled with authority. He urged chiefs to use their positions as rallying points to plan and execute development projects rather than merely exercising authority. The chiefs commended the government for the numerous projects being undertaken in the area citing the telecommunication network at Akim Oda as an example. They, however, appealed to the government to expedite action on the proposed asphalting of the Akim Oda-Nkawkaw road. Earlier, three newly installed chiefs in the traditional area had taken the judicial oath which was administered by Mr. Justice Kofi Oppong, a high court judge at Akim Oda. The chiefs include Oberempong Kwame Sintim-Poku the third of Akim Manso, Baafour Sasu Akomea third of Kyekyenku and Nana Tiefu Amisare the second of Anyinam Kotoku. Present at the function were Mr. Lovinger Kweku Boateng and Mr. Yaw Osafo-Marfo, members of parliament for Birim North and Akim Oda respectively.