AngloGold Ashanti together with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Obuasi Area Office, has successfully observed the World Environment Day in Obuasi with a clean-up exercise.
This year’s World Environment Day celebration in Obuasi took an unfamiliar form, as there was no symposium or durbar organized, but a walk and clean-up exercise in the central business district of Obuasi, distilling all chocked drains in the Obuasi Central Market.
Speaking at the occasion, AngloGold Ashanti’s Environment Superintendent, Mr. David Adade -Boateng advised that proper waste management practices must be sustained and should not be a ‘one-day wonder.’
‘‘This year we decided to shift away from durbars and having symposiums, because we ask ourselves, what has been the impact? And so, we felt that it would be more practical to do the work, and that is why you see the clean-up exercise here today,’’ he said.
Mr. Adade- Boateng added that the people that work in the Central Business District of Obuasi, should be responsible for the cleanliness of the environment.
“We must have a change of heart and mind as a people and decide that we want a clean environment for ourselves and our children. If we don’t do that…World environment day would be celebrated every year but it would have no impact” he concluded.
World Environment Day is the biggest international day for the environment. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the event has been celebrated annually on June 5th since 1973. World Environment Day has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach with millions of people around the world engaging to protect the planet.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘ONLY ONE EARTH’ with the national slogan ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. This year’s celebration falls on a Sunday but was observed in Obuasi on Saturday, June 4th, 2022 due to the majority of the people worshiping on Sunday.
Speaking to Obuasitoday.com, the Obuasi Area Head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Mr. Prempeh Adarkwa Yiadom said that people nowadays feel reluctant and lazy to carry baskets from their homes when going to do purchases in the market.
“Everybody wants to feel comfortable when going to the market. That was not the practice some years ago. Our mothers and sisters some years ago used to carry baskets and bags from the house when going to the market for shopping. Everything they bought was placed in these baskets.”
“That is not the case today. We go to the market with empty hands and every single thing we purchase is put in a plastic bag. We come home with a lot of these plastic bags, and the saddest thing is, we don’t reuse them when going to the market the next time” he said.
He urged citizens to desist from that act to help protect the environment for ourselves, our children and our children’s children. He made an appeal to the public on the collective responsibility of protecting our atmosphere, water bodies, soil and other environmental systems.
The 2022 World Environment Day campaign #OnlyOneEarth calls for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet.