MEST donates to EPA and Tamale Polytechnic

Accra June 14, GNA - The Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), on Tuesday donated 20 four wheel vehicles and 100 computer laptops to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Tamale Polytechnic at a ceremony in Accra.

The cost of the items was not readily available. Ms Sherry Ayittey, the sector Minister, said the presentation followed discussions in Parliament on the need to assist the Agency through capacity building.

According to Ms Ayittey, MEST in collaboration with various donor agencies were giving 20 vehicles to EPA regional capitals.

"Through the Sustainable Land Management Programme, over 100 motor bikes have been ordered to facilitate the field work and extensive services to the Project sites," she added.

Ms Ayittey said MEST was also seeking approval from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, to enable EPA recruit 35 staff of various technical fields, noting that 10 regional offices of the Agency were currently being rehabilitated and expanded.

The Minister said the government was also procuring a World Bank loan for the EPA to undertake capacity building in Oil and Gas, as well as purchase a vessel for the agency.

Miss Ayittey said Ghana and the Canadian government had so far spent over 2.5 million dollars in capacity building for officers so they could manage the environment and natural resources.

To the Tamale Polytechnic, Ms Ayittey said the presentation was in fulfilment of the President's pledge to the Polytechnic when he inaugurated the school's Information and Communication Technology laboratory during his t= our of the Northern Region.

Mr Daniel Amlalo, Executive Director, EPA, who received the keys to the vehicles, thanked government, saying the Agency would use them to ensure "zero pollution in the country."

According to him, the EPA was currently training 40 of its senior officers to prosecute offenders and that they were going to do their best to work to sustain the environment.

Dr Salifu Abdullai Senior Lecturer of the Tamale Polytechnic, who received the laptops, expressed gratitude to the President adding that the laptops would go a long way to promote government's Ghana Better Agenda programme.