Sunyani (B/A) Aug. 30, GNA - The National Disaster Management Organisation, in collaboration with Newmont Ghana Gold Limited on Tuesday launched a month-long tree-planting exercise at the Regional hospital in Sunyani.

Nana Atta Afena, Regional Co-ordinator of NADMO, said the initiative was aimed at protecting the hospital from natural disasters and to make its environment conducive to good health. The regional co-ordinator, who performed the launch, noted that rainstorm disaster was a major occurrence in the region and it was important that appropriate steps would be taken to forestall such disasters.

He said Newmont Ghana Gold Limited donated the seedlings for the exercise and that 37 million cedis had been sunk into the exercise, which would also be carried out at the Regional Prisons yard, the residence of the Regional Minister and some schools in Sunyani Municipality and Berekum District.

Nana Atta Afena commended Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd. for supporting the programme and expressed the hope that such assistance would be sustained in protecting the environment.

Mr. James Badu, Brong-Ahafo Regional Environmental Manager of Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd. said the company would embark on an afforestation programme to ensure that parts of the environment devastated by mining activities in the region would regain vegetative cover. He said Newmont would adopt the site for the afforestation programme at the hospital and develop it into a garden before it would be finally handed over to the hospital authorities. Mr. Badu appealed to the hospital authorities and staff to take good care of the plants to ensure that they served the intended purposes.

Dr. Daniel Asare, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, thanked the two institutions for their commitment to protecting and beautifying the hospital's environment. He assured officials of the two institutions that the plants would be taken good care of.