Nkoranza (B/A), May 30, GNA - Mr Isaac Osei, Brong Ahafo Regional Programme Officer of Environmental Protection Agency, has urged district assemblies to empower local communities to enact bylaws to protect the environment from illegal human activities.

He was addressing a meeting of the Environmental Protection Sub- Committee of Nkoranza District Assembly organised by the Agency to discuss waste management in the District. The Committee also discussed the state of river bodies in the area,

livestock keeping, prevention of bushfires and indiscriminate tree felling. Mr Osei expressed regret that animals, particularly cattle, goats, sheep and pigs were allowed to roam the streets and called for a bylaws to help solve the problem.

He said the Agency would supply tree seedlings to communities that were ready to plant trees alongside river bodies to protect them from drought and charged assembly members and unit committees to help in such an exercise.

Mr Daniel Agyarko, District Environmental Health Division Officer, announced that the Assembly had decided to allocate a plot of land to keep all cattle there.

He urged the assembly members to provide refuse dumps for the Communities and advised the people to avoid defecating indiscriminately to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Mr Osei Akoto, also of the EPA, advised the assembly members to ensure that the people did not farm close to river bodies as the practice could cause them to dry up.

He also explained that the poisonous chemicals that the vegetable farmers used on the crops could leach into the rivers and consequently affect the health of the people.

Mr Benjamin Adu-Darko, Assembly Member for Boabeng-Fiema and a member of the Assembly's Environment Sub-Committee, who presided, complained that a number of communities in the District lacked decent places of convenience.

He, therefore, appealed to Nkoranza District Assembly to help provide such facilities to improve the health of the people.

The assembly members complained that stray animals destroyed the peoples' crops, property, caused nuisance to the public and entered classrooms that were without doors.