Task Force to ensure compliance at fuel stations

Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has announced the setting up of a task force to ensure that all fuel stations across the country comply with all environmental standards.

He gave the assurance the Ministry would continue to give all the relevant agencies the needed support and guidance to ensure that they performed their mandate in relation to environmental management.

The minister said this at weekend at the celebration of World Environment Day, in Accra, under the global theme: “Sustainable Consumption and Production.”

The National theme was “Sustainable Energy” with the slogan, “Waste to Energy- a responsibility for all.”

He said plans were far advanced to commence the planting of at least 30 million trees per annum, and to convert all septic tanks into bio-septic, which would be used to generate energy for both cooking and electricity.

Mr Ayariga said the Government aimed to achieve universal access to electricity by the 2020 in line with its 2010 National Energy Strategy.

He noted that while the country was confronted with under-supply of power to help boost the economy, it had an over-supply of waste that was not managed effectively.

He explained that waste could also be converted to power through the use of certain technologies.

Biogas, he said, was a mixture of different gases produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen, which was another alternative waste to energy technology.

Mr Ayariga said a well-coordinated national campaign would be launched to convince individual homeowners to adopt the biogas technology.

Mr Daniel Amlalo, the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the socio-economic development of the country had led to continued environmental degradation, including widespread land degradation, loss of biodiversity, pollution and depletion of fresh-water resources.

He said the impacts of waste and wastage had far-reaching implications beyond food security, sustainable natural resources management, human health, climate change and efforts towards poverty eradication.

“The goal of sustainable development is to increase the quality of life for all people without increasing environmental degradation and without compromising the resource needs of future generations,” he stated.

He, therefore, advised the public to shift their consumption patterns towards goods and services that use less energy, water, and other resources; and also stop wasting less food and energy.

Dr Patrick Mwesigye, the Regional Coordinator, United Nations Environmental Programme, said the annual World Environmental Day reminded people across the globe of the need to preserve the environment.

He said the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production were some of the major causes of the continued deterioration of the environment.