The Minister for Fisheries, Mrs. Elizabeth Afoley called on the West African sub-region to work together in order to achieve Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on life under water as well the Abidjan Convention Protocol of 2012 which enjoins us to cooperate and collaborate in our actions to protect and develop Marine and coastal environment.
The Minister who is also the Member of Parliament for krowor Constituency made this call at the maiden West African Plastic Waste and Marine Litter Conference 2019.
The maiden conference, TALKPLAST 2019 organised by the Federation of Plastic Manufacturers Recyclers and Users Ghana (FeMRUG) with support from the World Plastic Council under the theme ” West African Countries Unite For a Clean,Healthy and Productive Ocean Ecosystems” is to bring together stakeholders from the subregion to discuss plastic waste challenges and deliberate on possible solutions to this challenge.
She noted that, the West African sub-region is vast and contains several broad bands of different ecosystems as well as critical elements of the marine ecosystems washing the coastline.
In effect, she said the sub-region is enriched with biodiversity and therefore needs to be protected.
To her, by our circumstances as West Africans, there is the need to redouble our efforts at integrating our economies and working together as a regional block in addressing our environmental issues.
“Environmental concerns are cross-cutting and transboundary”, Hon. Elizabeth Afoley acknowledged.
In conclusion, she urged all to use the knowledge and expertise in the area of plastic waste recovery, recycling and management at the conference to analyse without reservation, to define innovative ways of handling plastics and make crucial contributions to the process of reforming plastic waste managements in West Africa, adding “in so doing, I am of the view that, we will serve the best interests of the citizens and people in West Africa.
Source: Ishmael Barfi
