High population density our bane in environmental protection – Dr. Kwabena Kokofu

The Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, has attributed Ghana’s challenge in ensuring a cleaner and healthier environment to the country’s rising population.

He explained that the nation had a smaller population in the past, hence assemblies were able to undertake clean-up exercises more easily. However, the current population is thousands greater than it was before, with a record of 30 million, therefore getting the people on board is a challenge.

Dr. Kokofu made the observation on Angel FM’s Anↄpa Bↄfoↄ morning show hosted by Kofi Adoma Nwanwani.

The Former Member of Parliament for Bantama Constituency in the Ashanti Region was responding to “what has caused our country to lose and continue to lose its growth?”.

His comment was in consonance with the World Environment Day event which was marked on Sunday, June 5, 2022.

Dr. Kokofu however expressed satisfaction in the partnership between the EPA and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to teach students about environmental protection under the Social Studies subject.

According to him, such lessons create awareness about activities that contribute negatively and positively to the environment thereby conditioning the children for society’s good.

While taking delight in the notion that Ghanaians are realizing the destruction caused to the environment through improper disposal of refuse, deforestation, and misuse of government facilities among others, he advised the public to change their negative attitudes to ensure that the environment is clean and healthy.

The EPA Chief Executive noted that in 1972, the world gathered in Brazil to learn about how to sustain natural resources such as renewable and nonrenewable resources.

He said plants that are renewable resources should be cared for by replanting trees after cutting them down or periodically planting them to avoid depletion.

Also, non-renewable resources such as gold and crude oil should yield the state higher profits than it has earned, by investing the income into some viable sectors.

“We should learn and practice this to help increase the growth of our environment and country as a whole,” he said.