L' Observateur Burundi

r Jemimah Etornam Kassah, a Fisheries Scientist, has disclosed that climate change is taking a toll on the fisheries sector, with biologists now recording high incidents of tumours in fishes.

‘We see these days, as fisheries biologists, that you dissect the fish and you are recording higher incidents of tumours,’ she said.

‘Tumours, which used to be at a low level, are now very high. These and other issues come together to affect the sustainability of Ghana’s fisheries.’

Dr Kassah, also a lecturer at the Department of Biology Education, University of Education, Winneba, was speaking on the effects of climate change on Ghana’s fisheries sustainability during a Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) media forum.

She said the recent high temperatures in the country could affect the reproduction and survival of juvenile fish and hatched eggs.

”Because Ghana is a coastal upwelling nation, where coastal upwelling drives our fishing, if we have very high temperatures, it means that the strength of our upwel
ling will go down, and that will affect reproduction and survival of juveniles or eggs,” she said.

”This is because when the eggs hatch it means that the planting numbers will be very low, which will affect survival.’

Dr Kassah noted that as the oceans warmed, there would be changes in wind speed and wind directions, which carried away the young fishes after spawning (the laying of eggs by aquatic animals).

She said having warmer temperatures also resulted in migration of fishes into colder or deeper waters, which made them get out of reach, especially for artisanal fishermen.

‘Currently, there are complaints that artisanal fishermen have to expend more fuel to go and harvest their stock, so the fish are literally moving out of reach of the fishermen”.

That also caused conflict between the artisanal and the inshore or industrial fishermen because the artisanal fishermen moved into areas reserved for industrial fishermen, which led to misunderstandings and conflicts, she noted.

Dr Kassah mentioned sea
level rise and storm surges as other effects of climate change, which had led to the disappearance of some fishing communities that were by the coast of the Volta Region, stressing that more and more of Ghana’s coastal communities, especially along the eastern coast, had become very vulnerable to such sea level rises, and it was just a matter of time before they also disappeared.

She bemoaned the attitude of people towards contributing to the destruction of Ghana’s water bodies and sea, through indescriminate disposal of pollutant, both plastic and heavy metals, as well as run-off from pesticides and weedicides used on land, ending up in the ocean.

Even though the country was doing so much in the sector, if such anthropogenic activities continued, they would have a deleterious effect on the ecosystem, which would affect both the ecosystem and the consumers, who are at the apex of the food chain.

Source: Ghana News Agency

r Jemimah Etornam Kassah, a Fisheries Scientist, has disclosed that climate change is taking a toll on the fisheries sector, with biologists now recording high incidents of tumours in fishes.

‘We see these days, as fisheries biologists, that you dissect the fish and you are recording higher incidents of tumours,’ she said.

‘Tumours, which used to be at a low level, are now very high. These and other issues come together to affect the sustainability of Ghana’s fisheries.’

Dr Kassah, also a lecturer at the Department of Biology Education, University of Education, Winneba, was speaking on the effects of climate change on Ghana’s fisheries sustainability during a Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) media forum.

She said the recent high temperatures in the country could affect the reproduction and survival of juvenile fish and hatched eggs.

”Because Ghana is a coastal upwelling nation, where coastal upwelling drives our fishing, if we have very high temperatures, it means that the strength of our upwel
ling will go down, and that will affect reproduction and survival of juveniles or eggs,” she said.

”This is because when the eggs hatch it means that the planting numbers will be very low, which will affect survival.’

Dr Kassah noted that as the oceans warmed, there would be changes in wind speed and wind directions, which carried away the young fishes after spawning (the laying of eggs by aquatic animals).

She said having warmer temperatures also resulted in migration of fishes into colder or deeper waters, which made them get out of reach, especially for artisanal fishermen.

‘Currently, there are complaints that artisanal fishermen have to expend more fuel to go and harvest their stock, so the fish are literally moving out of reach of the fishermen”.

That also caused conflict between the artisanal and the inshore or industrial fishermen because the artisanal fishermen moved into areas reserved for industrial fishermen, which led to misunderstandings and conflicts, she noted.

Dr Kassah mentioned sea
level rise and storm surges as other effects of climate change, which had led to the disappearance of some fishing communities that were by the coast of the Volta Region, stressing that more and more of Ghana’s coastal communities, especially along the eastern coast, had become very vulnerable to such sea level rises, and it was just a matter of time before they also disappeared.

She bemoaned the attitude of people towards contributing to the destruction of Ghana’s water bodies and sea, through indescriminate disposal of pollutant, both plastic and heavy metals, as well as run-off from pesticides and weedicides used on land, ending up in the ocean.

Even though the country was doing so much in the sector, if such anthropogenic activities continued, they would have a deleterious effect on the ecosystem, which would affect both the ecosystem and the consumers, who are at the apex of the food chain.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Thirteen-year-old Mbabota and his younger siblings, aged 10 and seven years, scavenge every weekend on farmland and dumping sites at the Kumbosigo and Yarigabiisi communities in the Upper East Region when school is not in session, to collect waste plastics, sachets and metals.

This is a routine the three never get tired of despite Mbabota’s sore leg.

The leg became sore due to a cut he sustained from a previous escapade when a broken bottle on a farm cut him. The dusty bandage tied round his ankle does not deter him.

The waste plastics and scrap they collect include plates, cups, buckets and empty water bottles and sachets.

The children engage in this almost on daily basis to send to the scrap dealers, especially the one at the corner of the village, where the items are weighed, and payment made accordingly.

Plight of the Siblings

Mbabota, a primary six pupil, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that he used the proceeds to buy food and sometimes writing materials, especially exercise books, pens and penci
ls for school.

The involvement of children in such activities for money, though not new in the country, continues to expose them to health hazzards.

This action also exposes them to environmental harm, abuse of their rights. Their development is also impeded.

The Sustainable Development Goal-Three advocates ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being at all ages before 2030.

However, the story of the three siblings and many others is gaining momentum in most communities due to indiscriminate disposal of liter recently.

This growing phenomenon of plastic pollution in Ghana has been a teeth gnashing problem where a glance at the surroundings in most communities has become nauseating.

Yet it seems every government has thrown in the towel in finding a lasting solution to the problem, despite many political campaign pledges to rid the cities, towns and communities of filth.

Thus, the plastic menace has over the years become a persistent pollutant to the environment and a threat to life on earth and
aquatic life.

However, the Sustainable Development Goal 14.1 advocates interventions to prevent both marine pollution of all kinds and land based activities that pollute the environment.

Political Pledges on Environment

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, under the National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP), pledged a new game changer in the country’s plastic management through the promotion of green alternatives to nurture and develop new business models for job creation throughout the value chain.

The Partnership also aims to develop systems and infrastructure across the country to ensure that the waste is turned into value added products.

With this partnership and collaborative work under its Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), which aims to create a world free of plastic pollution, there should have been signs of improvement but this value addition targets are still farfetched.

Situation in the Communities

In every market and super-market in Ghana, apart from some products purely produced
by the manufacturers with paper packages, most products are packaged in single-use plastics, ranging from kitchen ingredients to toiletries and drinking water.

The average Ghanaian comes into contact with all types of plastics often described as, ‘take away’ on daily basis. At special occasions like funerals, outdooring, weddings and community durbars, plastics are commonly used to serve food and drinks.

Plastic bottles and sachet disposed of haphazardly, with some thrown out of moving vehicles, usually lodged in gutters and finally washed into the sea.

An environmental situation report by Interactive Country Fiches estimates that more than 3000 metric tonnes of plastic is generated daily, and one million tonnes generated yearly in Ghana.

An estimated 86 per cent of Ghana’s plastic waste load is improperly disposed of resulting in choked gutters, drains, rivers and streams.

The same report said an estimated 250,000 tonnes of plastic waste in Ghana were dumped into the Atlantic Ocean yearly.

Mr Pius Akam
be, the Bolgatanga Municipal Environmental and Sanitation Officer, in an interview with the GNA, said reducing the volumes of plastic waste required sensitisation of the public on the harmful effects of the plastics on humans, animals, and the environment.

School children could also be targeted and educated on plastic pollution and can be agents of change for their peers and communities.

‘Stopping the littering and pollution of the environment is a responsibility of all citizens because government and the assemblies cannot do it alone,’ he said.

Recycling of Plastic Waste

The efforts to clear the environment of waste plastic, though might have been specified in the local content regulations of recycling plants, both for turning solid and liquid waste into reusable products, the five regions of the north are yet to make full use of the benefits from these industries concerning waste management.

In 2020, the ground was broken for one of such recycling plants at Sirigu in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the
Upper East Region, but the project had stalled due to politicisation, which had bedevilled many other projects.

Implication for the five regions of the north

As farming hubs, the already changing weather patterns and poor soils are affecting food security while farmers are contending with the plastic menace as it contributes to poor plant growth and yield.

Plastic materials are not degradable and so are stuck in the soil preventing seed germination, while animal health is also impacted, as most of them died after feeding on leftover food contained in plastics, which get entangled in their digestive processes.

Challenges of Stakeholders in the Waste Material Business

Alhaji Mohammed Sule, a businessman, dealer of scraps and plastics in the Bolgatanga East District, reiterated the high cost of transportation of such scraps and plastics to Accra for recycling purposes.

According to him, a long vehicle conveying full load of scrap cost him between GHC150,000 and GHC200,000 to Accra.

He said buyers were mor
e interested in scrap as compared to plastics, thereby making the plastic business not lucrative.

Recommendation

The plastic problem requires steadfast and consistent commitment by government and all stakeholders to achieve the desired change. Special initiatives should be established by the Government and the private sector to find nature-based solutions to dealing with plastic waste.

This is because millions of these plastics, both bag and bottles, are being produced every day with just a little of it being recycled.

This calls for a lifestyle change to end plastic pollution. There should be a complete rethinking and changing of attitudes towards production, usage, and disposal of plastics.

The producers and consumers must consider environmental health first as the only place for survival when dealing with the ”use once and throw away plastics lifestyle”, which is killing the environment.

The public should rather refuse non-essential plastics and promote re-use and refill practices.

Also, innovatio
n, especially using local ecological materials, should be promoted to replace plastics while sound waste management must be enforced to prevent plastic waste from entering the environment.

All hands must be on deck as much would not be achieved if sections of the public transition while others continue their normal ways of plastic usage.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Thirteen-year-old Mbabota and his younger siblings, aged 10 and seven years, scavenge every weekend on farmland and dumping sites at the Kumbosigo and Yarigabiisi communities in the Upper East Region when school is not in session, to collect waste plastics, sachets and metals.

This is a routine the three never get tired of despite Mbabota’s sore leg.

The leg became sore due to a cut he sustained from a previous escapade when a broken bottle on a farm cut him. The dusty bandage tied round his ankle does not deter him.

The waste plastics and scrap they collect include plates, cups, buckets and empty water bottles and sachets.

The children engage in this almost on daily basis to send to the scrap dealers, especially the one at the corner of the village, where the items are weighed, and payment made accordingly.

Plight of the Siblings

Mbabota, a primary six pupil, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that he used the proceeds to buy food and sometimes writing materials, especially exercise books, pens and penci
ls for school.

The involvement of children in such activities for money, though not new in the country, continues to expose them to health hazzards.

This action also exposes them to environmental harm, abuse of their rights. Their development is also impeded.

The Sustainable Development Goal-Three advocates ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being at all ages before 2030.

However, the story of the three siblings and many others is gaining momentum in most communities due to indiscriminate disposal of liter recently.

This growing phenomenon of plastic pollution in Ghana has been a teeth gnashing problem where a glance at the surroundings in most communities has become nauseating.

Yet it seems every government has thrown in the towel in finding a lasting solution to the problem, despite many political campaign pledges to rid the cities, towns and communities of filth.

Thus, the plastic menace has over the years become a persistent pollutant to the environment and a threat to life on earth and
aquatic life.

However, the Sustainable Development Goal 14.1 advocates interventions to prevent both marine pollution of all kinds and land based activities that pollute the environment.

Political Pledges on Environment

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, under the National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP), pledged a new game changer in the country’s plastic management through the promotion of green alternatives to nurture and develop new business models for job creation throughout the value chain.

The Partnership also aims to develop systems and infrastructure across the country to ensure that the waste is turned into value added products.

With this partnership and collaborative work under its Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), which aims to create a world free of plastic pollution, there should have been signs of improvement but this value addition targets are still farfetched.

Situation in the Communities

In every market and super-market in Ghana, apart from some products purely produced
by the manufacturers with paper packages, most products are packaged in single-use plastics, ranging from kitchen ingredients to toiletries and drinking water.

The average Ghanaian comes into contact with all types of plastics often described as, ‘take away’ on daily basis. At special occasions like funerals, outdooring, weddings and community durbars, plastics are commonly used to serve food and drinks.

Plastic bottles and sachet disposed of haphazardly, with some thrown out of moving vehicles, usually lodged in gutters and finally washed into the sea.

An environmental situation report by Interactive Country Fiches estimates that more than 3000 metric tonnes of plastic is generated daily, and one million tonnes generated yearly in Ghana.

An estimated 86 per cent of Ghana’s plastic waste load is improperly disposed of resulting in choked gutters, drains, rivers and streams.

The same report said an estimated 250,000 tonnes of plastic waste in Ghana were dumped into the Atlantic Ocean yearly.

Mr Pius Akam
be, the Bolgatanga Municipal Environmental and Sanitation Officer, in an interview with the GNA, said reducing the volumes of plastic waste required sensitisation of the public on the harmful effects of the plastics on humans, animals, and the environment.

School children could also be targeted and educated on plastic pollution and can be agents of change for their peers and communities.

‘Stopping the littering and pollution of the environment is a responsibility of all citizens because government and the assemblies cannot do it alone,’ he said.

Recycling of Plastic Waste

The efforts to clear the environment of waste plastic, though might have been specified in the local content regulations of recycling plants, both for turning solid and liquid waste into reusable products, the five regions of the north are yet to make full use of the benefits from these industries concerning waste management.

In 2020, the ground was broken for one of such recycling plants at Sirigu in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the
Upper East Region, but the project had stalled due to politicisation, which had bedevilled many other projects.

Implication for the five regions of the north

As farming hubs, the already changing weather patterns and poor soils are affecting food security while farmers are contending with the plastic menace as it contributes to poor plant growth and yield.

Plastic materials are not degradable and so are stuck in the soil preventing seed germination, while animal health is also impacted, as most of them died after feeding on leftover food contained in plastics, which get entangled in their digestive processes.

Challenges of Stakeholders in the Waste Material Business

Alhaji Mohammed Sule, a businessman, dealer of scraps and plastics in the Bolgatanga East District, reiterated the high cost of transportation of such scraps and plastics to Accra for recycling purposes.

According to him, a long vehicle conveying full load of scrap cost him between GHC150,000 and GHC200,000 to Accra.

He said buyers were mor
e interested in scrap as compared to plastics, thereby making the plastic business not lucrative.

Recommendation

The plastic problem requires steadfast and consistent commitment by government and all stakeholders to achieve the desired change. Special initiatives should be established by the Government and the private sector to find nature-based solutions to dealing with plastic waste.

This is because millions of these plastics, both bag and bottles, are being produced every day with just a little of it being recycled.

This calls for a lifestyle change to end plastic pollution. There should be a complete rethinking and changing of attitudes towards production, usage, and disposal of plastics.

The producers and consumers must consider environmental health first as the only place for survival when dealing with the ”use once and throw away plastics lifestyle”, which is killing the environment.

The public should rather refuse non-essential plastics and promote re-use and refill practices.

Also, innovatio
n, especially using local ecological materials, should be promoted to replace plastics while sound waste management must be enforced to prevent plastic waste from entering the environment.

All hands must be on deck as much would not be achieved if sections of the public transition while others continue their normal ways of plastic usage.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Living Yahweh 7Th Day Sabbath Assemblies at Anyaa has held its annual Passover and charity show 2024 with a call on political parties to prioritize the establishment of state farms in their manifestoes.

Apostle Philemon Okoh Agyemang, the Founder and leader of the church who made the call, said this would help in sustainable food supply, improve the country’s economy and create employment for the teeming youth who were now leaving the country to seek greener pastures.

‘Ghana with its vast arable lands cannot continue to import simple cocoyam from our neighbours, Cote Ivoire while also relied on external food support when the country’s lands remained fallow.

‘We should remind ours of the 1983 food crisis when the country received external food support like yellow corn and wheat by donors and we cannot continue this way hence the political parties should take the establishment of the state farms serious as food buffer for the country.’

The four-day celebration was on the theme: ‘But as for you; you mean
t evil against me: But God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done. The saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20).’

To this end, the church, as part of its corporate and social responsibility distributed several items to over thousand recipients from far and near at Anyaa in the Ga Central Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, which included persons with disabilities, orphanages, widows, institutions and individuals.

The items were 700 bags of rice, 350 bags of maize, tubers of yams, 5,000 clothes, 50 while chairs, 150 white canes, over 1,500 toiletries, assorted beverages, which amounted to GHc1,450,000 and undisclosed cash, to the less privileged in society.

Apostle Okoh Agyemang said the gesture emanated from James 1:27; ‘Pure religion which is undefiled before God and the Father is to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflictions and to keep thyself unspotted from the world.’

The church also used the occasion to honour Vice Admiral Seth Amoama (rtd) of the Ghana Armed Forces fo
r his 42 years dedicated service to the development of the country. He was presented with a citation and other items.

Apostle Okoh Agyemang said the honour done was to encourage the youth to be patriotic and give off their best to the service of the nation.

In sermon he urged the churches to use funds accrued from their tithes and other sources to support the less-privileged members and others in society, saying that some of the afflictions of the citizenry were no faults of theirs.

Professor Ohene Agyekum from the University of Ghana, Department of Linguistics and the guest of honour of the occasion congratulated the Founder and Leader of the Living Yahweh 7Th Day Sabbath Assemblies for his good works for mankind.

He urged the recipients of the items to use them for the intended purposes and avoid selling them.

Nii Charbukwei III, the Anyah Mantse who graced the event in an interview with the Ghana News Agency urged other charismatic churches to emulate the shining example of Apostle Okoh-Agyemang and p
romised of giving him the opportunity to name the area after the church.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Living Yahweh 7Th Day Sabbath Assemblies at Anyaa has held its annual Passover and charity show 2024 with a call on political parties to prioritize the establishment of state farms in their manifestoes.

Apostle Philemon Okoh Agyemang, the Founder and leader of the church who made the call, said this would help in sustainable food supply, improve the country’s economy and create employment for the teeming youth who were now leaving the country to seek greener pastures.

‘Ghana with its vast arable lands cannot continue to import simple cocoyam from our neighbours, Cote Ivoire while also relied on external food support when the country’s lands remained fallow.

‘We should remind ours of the 1983 food crisis when the country received external food support like yellow corn and wheat by donors and we cannot continue this way hence the political parties should take the establishment of the state farms serious as food buffer for the country.’

The four-day celebration was on the theme: ‘But as for you; you mean
t evil against me: But God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done. The saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20).’

To this end, the church, as part of its corporate and social responsibility distributed several items to over thousand recipients from far and near at Anyaa in the Ga Central Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, which included persons with disabilities, orphanages, widows, institutions and individuals.

The items were 700 bags of rice, 350 bags of maize, tubers of yams, 5,000 clothes, 50 while chairs, 150 white canes, over 1,500 toiletries, assorted beverages, which amounted to GHc1,450,000 and undisclosed cash, to the less privileged in society.

Apostle Okoh Agyemang said the gesture emanated from James 1:27; ‘Pure religion which is undefiled before God and the Father is to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflictions and to keep thyself unspotted from the world.’

The church also used the occasion to honour Vice Admiral Seth Amoama (rtd) of the Ghana Armed Forces fo
r his 42 years dedicated service to the development of the country. He was presented with a citation and other items.

Apostle Okoh Agyemang said the honour done was to encourage the youth to be patriotic and give off their best to the service of the nation.

In sermon he urged the churches to use funds accrued from their tithes and other sources to support the less-privileged members and others in society, saying that some of the afflictions of the citizenry were no faults of theirs.

Professor Ohene Agyekum from the University of Ghana, Department of Linguistics and the guest of honour of the occasion congratulated the Founder and Leader of the Living Yahweh 7Th Day Sabbath Assemblies for his good works for mankind.

He urged the recipients of the items to use them for the intended purposes and avoid selling them.

Nii Charbukwei III, the Anyah Mantse who graced the event in an interview with the Ghana News Agency urged other charismatic churches to emulate the shining example of Apostle Okoh-Agyemang and p
romised of giving him the opportunity to name the area after the church.

Source: Ghana News Agency