Ghana Gas empowered women
Two hundred and fifty (250) people, 90 percent of them women, have been engaged under a beach cleaning programme funded by the Ghana National Gas Company in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
The programme, dubbed the Eco-Brigade, was outdoored at Sanzule on Friday, October 16, 2026, and will see the beneficiaries keep beaches clean from Atuabo, where the company's Gas Processing Plant is located, to Ankobra.
The programme is fully funded by Ghana Gas and will be run by the Ellembelle District Assembly. It is a pilot programme expected to be extended to other coastal districts in the Western Region.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Gas, Judith Adjobah Blay, said the initiative was a revival of the Eco Brigade introduced by former President John Evans Atta Mills.
"It was initiated by the former President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills, and it was named Eco Brigade. We have come and we are calling it the Beach Cleaning Brigade. It's the same objective," she said.
She said the programme had two main objectives for Ghana Gas: to ensure a clean environment and to promote thriving communities.
"Primarily, to have a clean environment, and like I said before, a clean environment results in a thriving community," she added.
Adjobah Blay said she took the request to the company's Board when the Ellembelle District Assembly approached Ghana Gas for support, and convinced the Board on the need to collaborate with the Assembly.
She said the Board had since approved the programme, describing it as a long-term initiative.
"This programme is going to be a programme to stay. Every year, we'll pick (new beneficiaries). Primarily we are taking 250. I think 90 per cent are women, the rest may be men, but the focus is on the women in the district," she said.
She said although the programme was pioneering in Ellembelle, Ghana Gas would consider extending it to other beaches in the Western Region.
Blay said the programme would be fully funded by Ghana Gas, which would provide all the logistics and financing, while the District Assembly would run it.
"The District Assembly is going to run the programme. Ghana Gas is not going to run the programme. We are going to fund it and the District Assembly is going to run the programme," she stated.
She said, however, that Ghana Gas would supervise and monitor the programme to ensure its impact was felt, and would enhance or support it further if necessary.
Touching on other livelihood programmes, Judith Adjobah Blay said women in the district were being trained in soap-making under the GACOL programme, which would be enhanced with the construction of a factory.
She said Ghana Gas would also ensure a ready market for the women by making it a requirement for all its cleaning contractors to use soap produced by the GACOL women.
She said the company also had a programme engaging men in cleaning and other works, as well as manning its pipelines and right-of-ways.
She announced that Ghana Gas was also about to roll out a greenhouse vegetable project on one acre of land, which would form a cooperative of young men and women to be trained as mechanised farmers and entrepreneurs.
"We are going to monitor to ensure that the impact of this initiative is really felt on the tables of these men and women, and for that matter, the communities," she said.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Member of Parliament for Ellembelle and Lands and Natural Resources Minister, commended Ghana Gas for the intervention, describing the collaboration as very important for the future of the project-affected communities.
He said the initiative would help secure a strong social licence for the company within its project-affected area.
"We must feel your presence with projects. Plenty, plenty projects," he said.
He said he had checked the budget for the 250 beneficiaries and was excited about the number of women who would be put to work.
"This is a project that will really, really impact the people, and I'm very happy," he added.
He took the opportunity to urge the beneficiaries to take the job seriously and report to work regularly.
The District Chief Executive of Ellembelle, Joseph Agyekum commended the CEO of Ghana Gas and the management of the company for the initiative and pledged to support it to last longer.
Some of the beneficiary women who spoke to Daniel Kaku of GhanaWeb at the programme expressed their profound gratitude to the management of Ghana Gas for the initiative.
They described the programme as a life-changing one and pledged to work hard to keep the beaches in the Ellembelle District clean.
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