Students displayed placards bearing various messages on sea preservation at the ceremony...
The government, through the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), joined other nations of the world in commemorating this year’s World Ocean Day (WOD).
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly officially designated June 8 every year to be commemorated as World Ocean Day to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean while mobilizing and uniting the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans.
This year, a ceremony, which brought together a variety of critical stakeholders from both the public and private sector including representatives from security agencies, fisherfolk from local fishing communities as well as pupils from some basic schools, was put together by MESTI on Wednesday to commemorate the event in Accra.
Held under the global theme: “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean”, the ceremony, saw several pertinent issues discussed extensively with a major focus on preserving Ghana’s part of the world’s ocean.
The sector minister, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie in his remarks noted with concern, the alarming rate of pollution in Ghana’s seas, attributing the phenomenon largely to plastic waste.
According to him, available research indicates that there would be more plastics in the ocean than fish by 2050 if steps are not taken to stop the disposal of plastics into it.
“Millions of pounds of plastic waste continue to make their way into the oceans every year. Nearly, 1800 animals from 40 different species swallowed or become entangled in plastics as revealed by the Ocean Conservation Group Oceane,” he revealed.
“In Ghana, it is pathetic that we do not fully enjoy the benefits of our beautiful beaches. Instead, we desecrate them by defecating there openly and littering them indiscriminately. Many visitors to our beaches are baffled at why we could do such a thing to ourselves when elsewhere, it is the place where vigorous wealth creation takes place,” he lamented.
In addressing the challenge, the minister said the government and other stakeholders were developing an implementation plan dubbed ‘Cash Your Trash’ to promote domestic plastics recycling.
The initiative would see Ghana zoned for plastic collection, especially the single-use plastics, be said, adding that areas that constantly record a clean environment would be rewarded.
Dr. Afriyie also noted that studies had shown that the current plastic collection system was driven by the volume a picker collects. As a result, the single-used plastics were left behind due to their lightweight, he observed.
Government, he stressed, would therefore not rule out other measures including punishing people who discard plastics and other waste indiscriminately, which often ends up in water bodies.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio