Apaak questions government for prioritising tree planting over school feeding

The Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak, has questioned why the government can approve 2.5 million Ghana cedis for tree planting while school feed caterers are on strike.

This comes on the back of government approving a whopping amount of Gh₵2.5 million for the 2023 Green Ghana tree planting.

This was disclosed by the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio, at a press conference in preparation for the 2023 Green Ghana Day celebration.

Commenting on the development, the Builsa South lawmaker stated that despite tree planting being good, Ghanaian children are equally important.

“Government owes school feeding caterers; as a result, they are on strike.

“The current rate per child per day is 97p; this can’t even feed a pet cat. Yet government can find 2.5 million to plant trees in times like this? Trees are important, yes, but our children are more important, Mr. President,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the deputy minister indicated that the Forestry Commission, through its district offices and internal nursery, will provide three million seedlings.

“It is also going to assist with 500,000 seedlings and some committed donors providing us 1 million seedlings. All of these will be up to 7.5 million out of the 10 million,”

“As we speak now, our approved budget for Green Ghana this year is GH₵2.5 million. This is not enough, but we cannot say that we are not going to celebrate the day this year. So, there’s the need to start appealing for funds, which we have started since last year, and we are hopeful that we will get some support from our partners to make this possible.