Zoomlion to set up environment clubs

Thursday, April 10, 2008 (Daily Graphic Pg 47)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah & Justina Ampadu-Nyarko
ZOOMLION Ghana Limited has carried the issue of good sanitation further by collaborating with a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Life Bridge 68, to set up environmental sanitation clubs in schools.
The objective of the clubs is to instil good environmental practices in the children and prepare them to serve as peer educators to others.
The slogan for the clubs is “Keep Ghana Clean” with “Catch Them Young” as the response.
The launch which was held at the Kokomlemle Cluster of Schools in Accra, was witnessed by hundreds of schoolchildren and dignitaries from the ministries of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment; Women and Children Affairs; Health as well as Education, Science and Sports.
Others were from the World Bank, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment Sanitation and the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Addressing the participants, the Deputy Minister of Women and Children, Mr Daniel Dugan, said proper waste management ensured good and healthy lives.
He said if Ghanaians took care of their environment, a greater proportion of funds allocated to health and sanitation from the state and donors could be used for other projects such as education, research and food production.
He said the Ministry of Women and Children was committed to the vision which was shared by the UNICEF 2000 Report which stated that “every child, without exception, lives a full and healthy life”.
Mr Dugan also stated that the ministry had the responsibility to ensure that all infants started life healthily and that young children were nurtured in a caring environment.
The Communication Manager of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mrs Isabella Gyau-Orhin, said while UNICEF and other development agencies were looking at how best to solve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) IV which touched on reducing child mortality by the year 2015, it was important for Ghanaians to also look for local solutions which are less costly and yet effective.
Giving statistics to support her statement, she said it was estimated that in every hour, about 100 children died from diarrhoea, adding that many of these lives could be saved through better access to improved sanitation and basic hygiene such as washing hands with soap.
Mrs Gyau-Orhin said the management of Zoomlion believed that inculcating good sanitary habits and the proper ways of waste disposal in the children would at least, help minimise littering of the environment.
“These children will serve as environmental guards and advise their colleagues and even adults who may want to litter indiscriminately”, she stated.
The Project Co-ordinator of Life Bridge 68 Foundation, Mrs Juliana Arhin, said the launch of Zoom Kids Club complemented the International Year of Sanitation which would be observed this year.
She said the decision to inculcate the principles of environmental health in children would serve as an effective way of curbing the problem of waste management in the country.
Goodwill messages were presented by representatives from the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment and Sanitation; the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports; Ghana Education Service; the Ministry of Local Government and the World Bank.