Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has expressed fears about the rate at which Ghana’s environment is being depleted on a daily basis.

Delivering the keynote address at the launch of a book titled: ‘Mind your environment: It is your life support,’ on Friday in Accra, he called on Ghanaians to keep their surroundings clean at all times and also preserve their natural resources.

According to him, life might become unbearable for Ghanaians soon if appropriate measures are not employed to tackle the menace.

Rev. A. Harry Awortwi and his wife, Gifty Awortwi, authors of the book, said they spent about 19 years working on it.

He said illegal mining, otherwise known as ‘galamsey’ and sand-winning, were destroying marine creatures, soil and agricultural lands in Ghana.

“The environment is very important for our nation and so it is the duty for us the citizens of this country to protect the diversity and ecosystem that support our lives,” the Vice President stated.

“Nature, a gift from God to mankind, is central to Christianity and all religions and therefore there is the need to uphold it.”

For her part, Mrs. Awortwi said most major cities in Ghana had become ‘refuse sites.’

“All our major cities are now choked with waste products,” she said.

The book has been approved by the Ghana Education Service (GES) as a supplementary social studies book for all Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country.

Zoomlion Ghana, a waste management company, bought a copy of the book at Ghc10,000.

An official of the company said the waste management company, in a bid to ensure a clean environment, would distribute about 1 million plastic waste bins to schools and markets across the country.