Kukurantumi (E/R), Oct. 9, GNA - Mr Simon Peter Asirifi, East Akim Municipal Chief Executive, has warned that illegal mining, popularly known as "galamsey", was threatening the environment and the lives of human beings and animals in the area.

He also expressed worry that that some children, who abandoned school, had joined the illegal activity, posing a threat to the country's human resource development.

Mr Asirifi was speaking at the launch of this year's World Environment Day that was on the theme: "Your Planet Needs You, Unite to Combat Climate Change", at Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region on Thursday.

He said women, who had joined the illegal mining, were dredging river beds and digging lands in forests in search of gold and other minerals, exposing them to poisonous chemical used in the transactions.

Mr Asirifi lamented that sources of drinking water were polluted with poisonous chemicals and trenches left uncovered. He alleged that some people in the Municipality were selling lands to foreigners for "galamsey" and cautioned that the practice could affect development in the area.

Mr Asirifi called for comprehensive policies and laws against over-exploitation of the country's natural resources towards sustainable development that would benefit the future generation. Mr Kwasi Owusu-Sekyere, Eastern Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said for the last couple of years, the theme for the celebration of the Day had been on climatic change because it has become a serious global issue. He appealed to teachers and school children to undertake tree planting as their contribution to the fight against climate change and environmental degradation.

Mr Owusu-Sekyere said the EPA in collaboration with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church had planted 4,280 tree seedlings as part of activities to mark the Day and gave the assurance that the Agency would nature the trees till maturity.

Mrs Kate Agyemang-Badu, the Municipal Director of Education, has asked school children to educate members of their communities about the essence of tree planting and other environmental protection measures.