Director of Port of Tema Sandra Opoku and the Mayor of Tema, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, have joined Meridian Port Services’ tree-planting exercise around the port area.
MPS is garnering support from stakeholders in the port industry to plant 1,001 trees as part of the Green Ghana project. The trees are being planted around the MPS terminal 3 area as well as the Titanic Beach.
Led by the Chief Executive Officer of MPS, Mohammed Samara, both the Director of Port of Tema and Tema mayor planted some trees together with staff of MPS.
The Mayor of Tema, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, said the Tema Metropolitan Assembly intends to plant 500,000 trees in the port city of Tema, adding that the initiative taken by MPS is in the right direction.
“Once we have more trees coming, what it means is that, at least, we have a forest cover and we all know the effects that the industries and burning of fossil fuels have on the climate and once you have more trees planted, the carbon dioxide which is being released into the atmosphere is taken by the trees giving us oxygen; and by so doing, the ecology becomes more balanced and Ghanaians become happier because we have more trees coming,” he explained.
He said some by-laws at the assembly have been changed as part of measures to protect the environment.
“For us, at the assembly, we have changed some by-laws. Now if you are going to build any property, by our by-laws, 25 percent of your land space should be green. If you come to us and we are rejecting your drawings, then you have to know that we are also taking a good initiative to contribute to the climate change issues that we have,” he said.
The Director of Port of Tema, Sandra Opoku, stressed the need for new coconut trees to be planted along the beaches to restore the green nature of the area.
“We all know that when the last tree dies the last human being also dies. We were just discussing when we were growing up; this whole place was green with coconut trees, but because of the environmental issues here, most of them have died and some of them have been cut off. This is a new initiative and I commend MPS,” she stated.
She commended MPS for the initiative and pledged the commitment of GPHA to support them in the exercise.
“It is important to keep the environment green and plant more trees to give shade. Now we are experiencing good weather and if we are going to continue to have good weather, it is because of the trees and the greens around us,” she averred.
The CEO of MPS, Mohammed Samara, thanked stakeholders in the port and shipping industry for their collaborative efforts in ensuring that their target of planting the 1,001 trees was achieved.
“We have some ship owners and agents among us; we have the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority; we have some freight forwarders; we have some importers and exporters; and all of us led by our project team and our contractors. What we are doing is, we are taking the initiative of his Excellency the President to declare the Ghana’s Green Week and Green Day,” he stated.
