TMA to act on Chemu Lagoon Restoration report
GNA | Posted: Wednesday, August 31, 2005
The Minister of Environment and Science, Ms Christine Churcher, has ordered the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) to commission a team to study the Acres International Report on the resuscitation of the Chemu Lagoon and forward it to the government for consideration.
The study, she said, should be in the light of current realities and should include repackaging the restoration project and its engineering and financial components.
Ms Churcher gave the order in a speech read on her behalf at Tema during a stakeholders' dialogue on the role of industry and the Municipal Assembly in managing waste and the way forward for the Chemu Lagoon.
The dialogue was on the theme, "Meeting the Challenges of Restoring the Chemu II Lagoon" and was organised by the Corporate Social Responsibility Movement, (CSRM) an NGO in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
Ms Churcher suggested to industries in the municipality to contribute financially to the restoration of the lagoon, since the financial implications of such project might be beyond the capacity of the TMA. In addition, she called on the TMA and the traditional authorities to consider launching a Chemu Lagoon Restoration Fund towards that purpose and appealed to the Members of Parliament in the area to "put their weight and influence behind the project".
The Environment Minister attributed the problems of waste management in Tema and Ghana in general to poor planning for waste management programmes, inadequate sites and facilities for waste management operations and negative attitudes of the public and some industries towards the environment.
She advised the TMA to use some of its funds for Urban Infrastructure Rehabilitation Projects to improve major drains and prepare a waste management plan based on guidelines developed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
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