Kpone-Ghana, June 19, GNA – Tema Fuel Company (TFC) has organized a clean-up exercise at Kpone Laloi Beach in the Kpone-Katamanso municipality to beat plastic pollution.
The exercise forms part of the TFC’s commemoration of 2023 World Oceans Day, which seeks to remind everyone of the major role the oceans have in everyday life.
The ocean is ascribed to being the lungs of our planet, a major source of food and medicine, and a critical part of the biosphere.
The purpose of the day was to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilise and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans.
Mr. Samuel Kwabla Alorvor, TFC Head of Health, Safety, Security, and Environmental Sustainability, stated in his welcome address that the environment needed to be protected from plastic pollution and all other pollution.
He said TFC decided to merge the commemoration of World Environment Day 2023 with World Oceans Day through the clean-up exercise at Kpone Laloi Beach to send a strong signal to the world of the need to protect the ocean and the environment.
“We are using this platform to raise awareness among people to protect the environment and the ocean,” he stated, noting that the misconception that this man-made material will harmlessly go away, the addiction to single-use plastic, and the lack of plastic waste management have resulted in a global epidemic of plastic pollution.
He revealed the theme for this year’s World Environment Day, “Beat Plastic Pollution,” and their focus was on plastic pollution along the coastal areas in Kpone.
He said, “Plastic waste is currently the most abundant type of litter in the ocean, making up about 80 per cent of all marine debris in the oceans and environment at large”.
Mr. Alorvor added that, if proper control measures are not taken, by the end of the year 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in our seas.
“It has therefore become imperative that we tackle and combat these worrying trends of plastic pollution, which is causing havoc in our water bodies and even our lands; educating and enlightening people about plastic pollution and its harmful effects on our environment is key”, he noted.
Mr. Emmanuel Acheampong, Health, Safety, Security, and Environment Officer at TFC, also added that biodiversity was essential for the well-being of humans because we depend so much on it for food and other sources.
He added that, as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, the company would try to support the community with some of their needs.
Ms. Petrina Nyann, TFC Human Resource Manager, also presented some dust bins to the assemblyman and noted that it was the support the company was giving to the assembly to put them at a vantage point along the beach area and the theme for World Environment Day, which focused on solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution, served as a reminder that people’s actions on plastic pollution matter.
Mr. Wat William Attiapa, Assemblyman of Dengla electoral area at Kpone, appreciated the support of the TFC and called on other organizations to also assist the community.
He appealed to companies around Kpone and its environment to also support the town and beach area.
