Ghana Oil Company Ltd. (GOIL) has presented GH¢500,000 to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as part of its contribution toward the Green Ghana Project.
Leading a delegation from GOIL, Managing Director Kwame Osei-Prempeh described the Green Ghana Project as a laudable initiative. Therefore, it is incumbent on GOIL to donate toward its course as it seeks to rid the atmosphere of hazardous chemicals from cars and industries, among others.
He explained further that since GOIL is for Ghanaians, they will lend their support to every imitative that will help better the people’s lives.
“GOIL is a very responsible company, we are always determined to be part of whatever is happening that will make Ghana move forward. The ‘Green Ghana’ idea is laudable – to plant 20 million trees – if government has brought such an initiative, we believe that it deserves every support. We sell fuels, we know that they pollute the environment; and that is why the whole world is moving to green fuel, clean fuels. We believe that if 20 million trees are planted, the trees will help absorb the carbon dioxide so our oxygen will be cleaner and we can have a healthy life.
“We are here to support with GH¢500,000 and assure Ghanaians that GOIL is not for a group of people but for everybody. Therefore, you need to buy your fuel from GOIL. With our concern for the environment, we sell the best quality of fuel in this country; the sulphur content in our diesel is so low to reduce pollution in the system,” Mr. Osei-Prempeh maintained.
Receiving the cheque, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources – who is also chairman of the Green Ghana Project, Benito Owusu-Bio, commended GOIL for the kind gesture and noted that fundraising toward the project is still ongoing.
He used the opportunity to thank all corporate organisations which have made contributions to the project, and also called on other institutions who have pledged their support to come and redeem themselves.
“We are happy to have the team from GOIL make a presentation to the Green Ghana project, which we successfully executed on Friday across the country. The fund-raising activity is still ongoing. There are still a lot of activities that we have to undertake, maintenance of the trees planted – and we encourage all corporate bodies to continue supporting the project,” the Deputy Minister said.
Progress made
Mr. Owusu-Bio further indicated that the project has so far exceeded its target of planting 20 million seedlings. He indicated that, in all, about 23 million seedlings have so far been distributed across the country.
“So far, the total number of seedlings that have been distributed is around 22.6 million; and as at close of work on Monday it was 23.052. So, the work is still ongoing; and as a result of that, there is a need for all of us to contribute help in making these seedlings survive. That is the real work.
“The results are encouraging. We keep receiving data from the field and we have already exceeded the target of 20 million,” he emphasised.
