The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) on Saturday embarked on a massive tree-planting exercise at Atasemanso, a first class residential area, in a bid to restore the city to its former status as the â??Garden City of West Africaâ??.
The five-hour exercise, supported by the Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and the Environmental sub-Committee of the Assembly, was spearheaded by Hon. Osei Assibey Antwi, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE).
In attendance was Nana Owusu Barima III, chief of Atasemanso, who symbolically planted one of the trees.
The tree seedlings were supplied by the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), and had some of their representatives present to monitor the exercise.
Trees planted included â??terminalia montalisâ??, â??bliglia sapidaâ??, â??polythia longitoliaâ??, â??militia thonningiâ?? and royal palm.
Hon. Assibey Antwi disclosed that a total of 1, 000 trees of varied species and also environmentally-friendly, would be planted within the Nhyiaeso sub-metro.
â??The KMA under my leadership would do everything humanly possible to green Kumasi in order to enhance the wellbeing of the people. We want to bring back the days when the city was adorned with flora and fauna of various species, and which even served as a tourist attraction to many visitorsâ??, he observed.
Consequently, the Assembly, he said, would increase its engagement with residents on regular basis to sensitize them on the benefits of tree-planting.
Hon. Assibey Antwi indicated that the expectation was that all and sundry would join the campaign to help the KMA achieve its objectives.
He said industrialization and urbanization had in recent time contributed immensely to environmental degradation, and insisted that this could be improved through constant tree planting which helped to absorb carbons emitted due to the activities of the residents.
Three years ago, the KMA started a similar exercise under the Urban Forestry Project, and planting trees at Asokwa, Santasi, Sofo-Line-Tanoso road, and other areas.
Nana Owusu Barima lauded the MCE and Assembly for being environmentally-conscious, and appealed to traditional authorities to strive to give their backing to the noble project.
Nana Dwomoh Sarpong, Executive-Director of the Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies, entreated decentralized assemblies to replicate the exercise for their own benefits.
He advocated stiffer punishment for those who flouted on environmental-sanitation bye-laws.
Also present was Hon.Kennedy Kankam , the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso Constituency .