Kukurantumi (E/R), Oct. 9, GNA - The East Akim Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Simon Peter Asirifi, has said illegal mining was threatening the environment and the very survival of human beings and animals in the municipality. He said the most disturbing developments about the situation was that children had abandoned their education and joined the illegal mining and this is a threat to the future human resource development not only for the area but for the whole country. Mr Asirifi was speaking at the launch of World Environment Day on Thursday and "Your Planet needs you, unite to combat climate change" was the theme.

He said the worse of the illegal mining in the municipality was that women had joined in digging river beds and forest areas in search of gold and exposing themselves to poisonous chemical used in the business. Mr Asirifi said the illegal diggers were poisoning water bodies that serve as sources of drinking water and they also leave behind uncovered holes and trenches which are dangerous for both animals and human beings. Mr Asirifi said some family heads and chiefs had consciously or unconsciously joined the illegal mining by selling their land to foreigners and they should be aware they are selling the future security of their descendants.

The Eastern Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr Kwasi Owusu-Sekyere, said for the last couple of years the theme for the celebration of day had been on climate change which means that climate change would continue to be a serious issue to the world. He appealed to teachers and pupils to plant a tree each and nature them to maturity as their contribution to the fight against the presence of large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which is the cause of the climate change.

Mr Owusu-Sekyere said the agency and the SDA Church had planted 4,280 seedlings as part of activities to mark the day and assured that his office would nature the trees till maturity. The East Akim Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Kate Agyemang-Badu, called for the encouragement of school children to carry the message of environmental protection to their communities and to plant trees and nature them to maturity.