Daily Heritage November 29

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DAILY
Politics
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017
Anti-Galamsey Nursery
launched At Minti
NEWS DESK REPORT
ASEEDLING nursery
has been set up at
Minti in the Bosome
Freho District of the
Ashanti Region to
feed the Rejuvenation of Galamsey
Sites Project being undertaken by
Partners of Nature Africa (PONA),
a non-governmental organisation
(NGO).
The nursery, set up under the
auspices of Dadease Hene, Nana
Twum Barima Appau II, in partnership
with PONA, has been launched
at a colorful ceremony at Minti.
The ceremony was attended by
the Member of Parliament for Bosome
Freho, Madam Grace Dei, the
Environmental Protection Authority
Director for the area, Mr Prempeh
Adarkwa Yiadom, the Bekwai Municipal
Director of the Forestry
Commission, Mr George Agbenowoshi,
District Police Commander
for Bosome Freho, Mr
Dennis Boateng, the Patron for the
Small Scale Miners Association of
Ghana, M.E.K. Agyemang and
Nana Nti Karikari, who stood in for
the Traditional Council.
Addressing the gathering, Nana
Twum Barima Appau II, Dadease
Hene, disclosed that his partnership
with PONA was motivated by a
concern for the environment that
has been damaged by activities of illegal
miners.
“I decided to engage them to set
up this nursery to help restore the
environment and give back life to
the earth so my people can live
• Officials after the launch of the programme
healthily,” he said.
Nana Appau expressed his consent
to any organization that is willing
to join in the exercise, pledging
to do whatever is within his powers
to ensure its success.
The Bekwai Municipal Director
of the Forestry Commission, Mr
George Agbenowoshi, said the
Commission would support the
project with seedling to be planted
in reclaimed areas, just as has been
done to other organisation.
Forster Amofah, Director of
Operations of PONA, stated that
the nursery would produce over
100,000 seedlings to serve as a
seedling bank for the area.
“We have decided to raise rubber
seedlings in collaboration with
Fredko Consult Ltd due to its economic
benefits and viability,” he
said.
He called for support from all
stakeholders to ensure that the mess
caused by Galamsey operatives is
cleared for the people to enjoy their
God-given environment.
The dignitaries at the ceremony
joined hands to plant commemorative
trees to mark the launch of the
nursery.
“I decided to engage
them to
set up this nursery
to help restore
the
environment
and give back
life to the earth
so my people
can live healthily,”
he said.
Libya slave market
THE HOST of Peace FM's morning show
‘Kokrokoo’, Mr Kwami Sefa Kayi, has called on
the African Union to immediately deal with ongoing
slave trade in Libya.
According to him, such barbaric acts should
not be countenanced in this modern era.
"Who's the highest bidder? 800 Dinar! 1,000
Dinar! 1,100 Dinar! In the end, the winning bid
is 1,200 Libyan Dinar — the equivalent of $800
(€680). A done deal; however, this isn't just any
auction for a car or a piece of art. What's being
sold here is a group of frightened young men
from sub-Saharan Africa". That was how the
USA Today, the internationally distributed
American daily and the third-most-circulated
newspaper, captured the story on its portal.
CNN, on the other hand, reported
that hundreds of African refugees and migrants
passing through Libya are being bought and
sold in modern-day slave markets.
According to reports, the trade works by
preying on tens of thousands of vulnerable
people who risk everything to get to Libya's
coast and then across the Mediterranean into
Europe - a route that’s been described as the
deadliest route on earth.
Journalists working for CNN discovered
several such slave markets in the country's interior,
proving what experts had feared for a long
time: migrants trying to reach Europe via Libya
continue to be subject to abuse.
• African Union must act now
• Sefa Kayi charges
“...slavery has no
place in our world
and these actions
are among the
most egregious
abuses of human
rights and may
amount to crimes
against humanity.”
• Kwami Sefa Kayi
“They [the refugees] are from several
African countries and they say they have fled
war, poverty and unemployment in their countries.
They have taken a tough journey through
the desert and they have paid people smugglers
to get to Libya to try to cross the Mediterranean
to Europe.
U.N. Secretary-General Mr Antonio Guterres,
in an address in New York last Monday, appealed
to the Libyan leadership to investigate
these cases and bring those responsible for the
slave trade to justice.
“...slavery has no place in our world and
these actions are among the most egregious
abuses of human rights and may amount to
crimes against humanity,” he added.
Sefa Kayi, who was moderating Tuesday's
edition of the ‘Kokrokoo’ show, appeared
stunned by pictures that have emerged so far
and queried ‘where is the African Union (AU).’
“…there is a slave migrant. We can’t just
keep talking without any action. AU should do
something pragmatic now” he charged; a view
largely shared by panel members on the show
that included Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, National
Vice-Chairman of the opposition National
Democratic Congress (NDC) and Mr Henry
Kwabena Kokofu, former NPP Member of
Parliament for Bantama in the Ahanti Region.
Meanwhile, checks by Peacefmonline.com
indicate that the issue of the slave trade in Libya
has been added to the agenda of this week’s AU
meeting in Ivory Coast.