Chiraa organizes gardening competition

Chiraa (B/A), Oct 27, GNA - Mr Yaw Adjei- Duffour, the Brong Ahafo Deputy Regional Minister, on Wednesday urged Ghanaians to help the national campaign to promote tree planting and establishment of floral gardens.

The impact of desertification, deforestation and bush fire, he said, is not only the destruction of vegetative cover of the soil and water shades but also the destruction of rare tropical medicinal plants. Mr Adjei-Duffour was speaking at the launch of the Brong-Ahafo Regional Garden competition for schools at Chiraa.

The competition, the first to be held in the country by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in collaboration with the Department of Parks and Gardens, would involve basic and second-cycle schools countrywide.

He said the extent of environmental degradation and deterioration that had taken place in the country over the past four decades has been alarming and stressed the need to take measures to curb it. Mr George Owusu Afriyie, National Director of the Department of Parks and Gardens, appealed to Members of Parliament to allocate part of the MPs common fund to help enhance horticulture.

Mr Anderson Kwakye Acheampong, Sunyani Municipal Director of Parks and Gardens, said in the garden competition each district in the region would select the best landscape school in the district and the first school from the selected district would enter into the final stage of the competition

At the end of the competition, the first three schools would be awarded prizes.