The Eastern Regional Minister Seth Kwame Acheampong has urged media practitioners not to relent on the efforts to complement the government’s efforts at protecting the environment for the future.
This year’s celebration of the World Press Freedom Day which is being observed at the Koforidua Technical University in the Eastern Regional capital is under the theme” Leveraging Journalism for a Sustainable Environment and Future”.
Addressing a gathering at the Abba Bentil Hall, Mr Acheampong noted that galamsey continues to be a major threat to the environment eulogizing journalists who continue to make sacrifices by defying all odds to expose persons destroying the environment.
He called on them to continue exposing all miscreants, saying “Last year during World Press Freedom Day, I promised as the leader of this administration that we are going to fight to improve on our position on the World Press Freedom index. Now the good news is that Ghana has moved from 62 to 50 on the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index.”
“We” took aggressive action to defend journalistic freedom. This includes the blacklisting of some political figures whose supporters assaulted journalists and media practitioners. we will continue to resist and fight against such impunity. and I hope that by next year we will see more improvement in our precision.”
The President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, who noted the significant improvement of Ghana’s position on the press freedom index moving from 62 to 50 says the GJA will continue to institute robust measures to resist and fight against persons who assault journalists.
“We have started discussions with some key institutions for collaboration to undertake these initiatives. One such institution is the EPA, and we are happy to have the Executive Director deliver the Keynote Address for us today. We wish to use this opportunity to call on other stakeholders, including the security agencies and sponsors, to come on board.”
“Our survival as a nation is dependent on the environment, which includes plants, forests, water bodies, and other natural resources, and we must do everything humanly necessary to protect it. This is where the media must play a key role in teaching citizens about the dangers of Galamsey and other environmentally destructive activities.”
Touching on this year’s theme, Mr Dwumfour called on the media to resume the galamsey fight and also urged other security agencies to come on board to help fight the environmental menace the country is being challenged with.
“The GJA seeks to lead a strong media campaign for the protection of the environment and the good of the country. In that regard, we wish to call on the media to resume the concerted campaign against illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as ‘Galamsey’.”