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EPA calls for private sector support to reclaim degraded lands
The Chief Executive of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse, has appealed to the private sector to work with government and environmental agencies to help reclaim degraded lands across the country.
She made the call during a changfan ban enforcement operation in the Ashanti Region, where she expressed concern over the devastating effects of illegal mining on farmlands, forests, and water bodies.
Professor Klutse revealed that an estimated three million hectares of land have been destroyed due to illegal mining, according to reports from the World Bank and the EPA’s own findings.
“We are deeply worried because about three million hectares of land have been degraded. To restore these lands to their original state requires a lot of work, backfilling the holes, giving the rivers their original paths, planting trees, and bringing the environment back in order,” she said.
She added that the cost of reclamation is very high, making it difficult for the government and the EPA to shoulder the burden alone.
“It’s a huge cost on the state, government, and EPA. We are therefore advocating for the private sector to come in to support the reclamation of our lands and restoration of our water bodies,” Professor Klutse stated.
She noted that the EPA is currently working to secure funds and seeking proposals to support land reclamation and water body restoration projects across the country.
According to her, although the situation is worrying, the EPA remains committed to protecting the environment and ensuring that degraded lands are restored for sustainable use.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The forecourt of the African University of Communications and Business (AUCB) in Accra came alive on Friday with colour, creativity and innovation, as Level 300 students transformed the space into a lively exhibition of ideas.
Under the theme “Building meaningful brands beyond the logo,” the students invited patrons into a world where ordinary products were reimagined through storytelling, design and purpose.
From scented candles to innovative food concepts, each stand told a unique story, one that went beyond aesthetics to capture identity, value and human connection.
For many of the students, the event was more than just an academic exercise; it was a moment to dream out loud.
Guided by their lecturer, Peter Wonders, they explored what it truly means to build a brand in today’s competitive world where trust, consistency and experience matter just as much as logos and slogans.
Chairman of the occasion, Nana Kum Gyata VI, in his remarks said a brand is what people say about you when you are not present.
At the end of the presentations, awards were presented to deserving groups with Vida Nyaneba emerging as the overall best branding student.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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The Senior Correctional Centre (SCC) has initiated a lecture session to broaden the horizon of level 400 students at the Social Work Department of the University of Ghana (UG).
The initiative is under the auspices of the Counselling Unit and OIC of the Station, in consultation with the University.
The inaugural lecture delved into education of Social Work students about the role of Ghana Prisons Service and its core mandates, while emphasising the need for counseling as a psychological intervention for inmates mental health and well-being.
It also gave clearer insights about what was required of them in contributing their quota to creating awareness about the Service’s reformational agenda.
The session forms part of the ‘Think Prisons 360 degrees’ initiative, a collaborative efforts of the SCC Counseling Unit to conscientise the final year students of their roles as future social workers.
ASP Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah, a Public Relation Personnel highlighted on the core roles of the Service which include the welfare of inmates, safe custody of inmates, reformation and rehabilitation of inmates, respectively.
Discussing the ‘Think Prisons 360 degree’ agenda birthed by the Director General of the service, DGP Patience Baffoe-Bonnie Esq, Mr Ankrah enumerated the five core pillars of the initiative which include welfare of inmates and staff, agriculture mechanisation, industrialisation, wealth creation and strategic relations.
DSP Belinda Adjei-Attah, Head of SCC Counselling Unit schooled the final year students about the role of counseling as a pivotal reformational tool in the service with the tendency to enhance inmates’ psychological needs.
DSP Adjei-Attah further highlighted how Prison Officers and social workers could work together to reduce recidivism.
DSP Eugene Ansu Ohene-Tutu, a Counseling Personnel at SCC further elaborated on the role of social workers in aiding psychosocial interventions, expanding support systems and bringing in-house psychiatrists to help circumnavigate inmates’ mental health.
Dr Abena Oforiwa Ampomah, Lecturer at the Department commended the Senior Officers for their time with the final year students and commended the Officer-In-Charge of SCC, DDP Yayra Ashong Mettle, for releasing the officers to make such a memorable lecture.
By Spectator Reporter
