Gomoa-Dasumu (C/R), April 2, GNA - Speakers at a special durbar on water bodies preservation held at Gomoa-Dasumu in the Central Region, have stressed the need for chiefs to revive measures adopted by the ancestors to preserve water resources in communities. They said District and Municipal Assembly members and other stakeholders in the regions must also play key and sustained role in this exercise for proper and effective protection of the country's rivers.

The durbar attended by nearly 700 people mostly school children, was organized by the Awutu-Bawjiase Programme Area Office of Plan Ghana (PG), a non-governmental organization, to round-off activities that marked this year's World Water Day celebrations in the Awutu-Senya District.

The speakers included, Mr Daniel Sarpong, who represented the Country Director of Plan Ghana, Mr George York, Plan Ghana Southern Sector Manager, Mr Joseph Assan, Bawjiase Area Manager of Plan Ghana and Mr Joseph Ampiaw, Environmental Health Officer in-charge of Bawjiase Sub-district of the Ministry of Health.

They expressed the hope that if the chiefs came together and devise means of reviving and modernizing the excellent initiatives the ancestors adopted to protect the rivers; a lot could be achieved to maintain the river bodies even during severe dry seasons. Chiefs and the assembly members, they contended, must collaborate in their efforts to make tree planting activities in their areas of administration workable, particularly around water bodies. Nana Obokomatta IX, Chief of Gomoa-Dasumu, who presided over the function, assured the organizers of the chiefs' preparedness to take their suggestion into consideration in the interest of national development. A number of communities in the area, which performed well during the past year to maintain sound and excellent environmental sanitation and tree planting programmes, were given awards to encourage them to put up more credible performance this year.