By Jerry Azanduna, GNA
Techiman (Bono East) May 3, GNA – A task force set up by the Techiman Traditional Council in the Bono East Region has warned residents against polluting the Tano Sacred River.
Mr Prince Yaw Duah, the Leader of the taskforce working to safeguard the environment gave the warning in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the taskforce toured the river course at Techiman.
He said as a major source of potable water, the traditional council was putting in place measures to protect the sacred river and cautioning that anybody who might be found polluting the river would face sanctions.
“We are now patrolling the river course to stem activities causing harm to the river,” he stated.
Nana Kwame Kwane, the Stool Chief of the Techiman Traditional Council area, poured libation and performed some rituals to avert possibly the anger of the river deity due to the level of the river pollution.
He said according to history the river deity believed to be a crocodile had played a frontline role in sustaining the prevailing peace of the area.
In another interview, Mr Emmanuel Lignule, the Bono East Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) commended the taskforce for the vision to protect the river and other water bodies as well as helping to sustain the environment.
He noted that improving water and sanitation as well as environmental sustainability would propel the nation to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Mr Lignule asked the nation to do more to enhance access to clean water, toilet and sanitation facilities and strengthen ecosystem protection.
During the visit the GNA noticed that the sacred Tano River had turned into a waste dumping site, threatening aquatic creatures, as parts of the river course were choked with waste and plastic materials.
The appalling situation threatens the habitat and existence of the sacred crocodiles and fishes highly revered and regarded as the totems and ancestral spirits of the chiefs and people of the Techiman Traditional Area.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/BenjaminMensah
Reporter: Jerry Azanduna
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