President John Evans Atta Mills has called for effective collaboration among metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, traditional authorities, religious bodies and other stakeholders to help address the causes of climate change, which is threatening human survival.
He said global warming was creating severe environmental consequences such as drought, floods, rise in sea levels, coastal erosion, deforestation, land degradation, loss of biodiversity and many other harmful effects.
The President made the call in an address read on his behalf by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, at this year’s Akwantukese Festival of the chiefs and people of the New Juaben Traditional Area.
“Unfortunately, developing countries, including Ghana, are the primary and worst casualties of global warming and this calls on us to constitute community watch committees to fight this menace,” he said.
The occasion, which marked the 131st anniversary of the settlement of the people of New Juaben at their present location, attracted a large gathering of people from all walks of life, including the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; his deputy, Mr Baba Jamal, and the President of the City of Rochester and Livingstone, New York, Mrs Cynthia Oswald.
It was on the theme, “Effective partnership between the State and traditional authorities for sustainable development”.
The President said the burning issues concerning climate change had assumed global dimensions because of the immense danger they posed to human survival across the globe.
To reduce the effects of the phenomenon, he stressed the need for collaboration among stakeholders, not only at the international and local levels but also at the community level, as “we in the community are invariably the architects of these hazards”.
Emphasising the role traditional authorities could play, the President indicated that in the few past decades chiefs were responsible for the preservation of natural resources in their areas.
“They ensured that at least water bodies were kept safe and clean, curbed societal and individual habits that threatened the safety of our forests, sea fronts and the general surroundings. This was done through surveillance and pressure to comply with established customs and practices,” Prof. Mills said.
He, however, indicated that under current trends in rural development, “this aspect of traditional responsibility has, to a very large extent, diminished”.
On development, he said the government was determined to get the nation firmly anchored on the ladder of economic development to ensure that the desired economic transformation was realistically achieved.
“In this regard, I want to assure Ghanaians that my government is vigorously pursuing its agenda of building a better Ghana and we shall surely succeed,” he stressed.
Prof. Mills assured the people that since the country’s economic strength resided in agriculture, investment in the sector had been ranked high in the government’s development priorities.
The President commended the Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre (Prof. Emeritus) Oti Boateng, and the New Juaben Traditional Council for their commitment to the development of the area.
In his welcoming address, Daasebre Oti Boateng said some of the achievements of his 17-year reign included extensive installation of street lighting system, electrification projects, the construction of affordable housing units, a new modern library for New Juaben and the ongoing Koforidua water project.
With respect to education, he expressed joy at the establishment of the All Nations University College (ANUC) in Koforidua and the initiative of the college to introduce a Faculty of Oil and Gas for the emerging oil industry.
The Omanhene appealed to the government to upgrade New Juaben from a municipality to metropolitan status, since its population remained higher than some of the metropolitan areas in the country.
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