DON’T TAKE ISSUES OF CLIMATE CHANGE LIGHTLY – UERCC
The Upper East Regional Coordinating Council (UERCC) has cautioned residents in the Region not to take issues of climate change lightly.
The Council, therefore, advised residents to be mindful of activities that posed threats to the environment.
Alhaji Abubakari Inusah, the Chief Director of the UERCC, who gave the caution on behalf of the Council, headed by Dr. Hafiz Bin-Salih, the Regional Minister, said “Matters of climate change adaptation should not be taken lightly by any stakeholder.”
The Chief Director was speaking at a two-day workshop in Bolgatanga on local tools, strategies and other arrangements for integrated management of flood and drought risk strengthening resilience in the Volta Basin.
He said environmental degradation in the region was as a result of human negligence and not God, noting that God had given man wisdom and resources for use in a sustainable manner.
Alhaji Inusah called on residents in the region to massively support the upcoming Green Ghana initiative slated for June every year, to plant trees and nurture them to grow in order to improve upon the forest cover in the region.
He urged the Department of Agriculture, the Savanna Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) and the Water Resource Commission to take advantage of the Bagre Dam spillage and other water bodies in the region to grow food crops to feed the region and country as a whole.
“We must take advantage of the Bagre Dam spillage we complain about. If don’t do that, the water comes and for a short period, causes damage and goes away while we wait for the next season,” he said.
Mr. James Aggrey, a Senior Engineer at the Water Resource Commission, said efforts were initiated to achieve the set objective of building the capacities of the six Volta Basin Authority Member States in flood and drought management to minimize extreme hydro-climate disaster risks.
He said the workshop on local tools strategies, targeted the locals to be abreast with the flood issues, and share their experiences on drought and how they managed such conditions over the years.
Mr. Aggrey noted that the contribution of the project could be better appreciated and measured if early warning disaster risks and climate change tools, strategies and arrangement were developed and applied to strengthen the affected communities.
