Zebilla (U/E), Sept 28, Mrs. Agnes Chigabatia, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister on Thursday called on people of the Region to avoid bush burning and plant trees on large scale as a long-term measure to forestall future flood. She attributed the recent flood to poor environmental practices, which had led to the silting up of rivers, poor vegetative cover and soil that could not absorb water properly.

Mrs Chigabatia said this during the celebration of the Region's Environment Day at Zebilla, Bawku West District which was under theme, "rising temperature - a cause for environmental concern". She condemned indiscriminate felling of trees for charcoal and fuel wood, bush burning and bad farming practices that all contribute to degrade the environment.

She noted that improving the environment was an important factor to development and poverty reduction and urged all agents of development in the Region to adopt healthy environmental practices as an integral part of all interventions.

"If we do not take carefully planned and sustained measures to manage our environment, very little will be gained from the numerous interventions by government to reduce poverty in our communities, we cannot afford to win the war over poverty without preserving our environment", she said.

Omahene Kwaku Boateng, Senior Programme Officer, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), appealed to Municipal and District Assemblies to ensure that their projects were environmentally friendly and trees planted around all the buildings that they put up. "Assemblies should not only concern themselves with the provision of infrastructure, environmental implications of such infrastructures should also engage their attention", he said. He said the EPA in collaboration with elders in some communities had done extensive education on the need to avoid bush burning and the people had accepted to levy anyone who floats that agreement. He said the Agency was targeting schools with their tree planting programmes and had distributed over 4,000 seedlings to 50 firs and second cycle institutions.

Various species of tree seedlings were planted around department buildings and more given to individuals to plan in their homes and farms. 28 Sept. 07