541 Environmental Protection Assistants trained under Youth Employment Agency module
Five hundred and forty-one environmental protection assistants (EPAs) under the National Youth Employment Agency (YEA) programme have passed out after undergoing an 11-day training at the Pwalugu Police Public Safety Training School (PPSTS) in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region.
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The EPAs were trained in physical endurance, police-related subjects such as communication skills, first aid, client care, human rights, giving evidence in court, personal security tips, private person's power of arrest and handling of pocket note books. They were also briefed on sanitation and environmental issues.
Passing out
Speaking at the passing-out ceremony, the Director of the PPSTS, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Victor Adusah-Poku noted that "before the programme started, many were skeptical as to why environmental and sanitation schooling should be handled by police officers and for that matter inside police premises."
He, however, pointed out that at the end of the day that perception might have changed owing to the nature of the training the EPAs had undergone.
According to him, the hazards posed by bad environmental practices in various communities of the region and the country as a whole made it imperative for people to be trained in such areas to help protect the environment.
ACP Adusah-Poku bemoaned the destruction of trees and vegetative cover, as well as illegal mining activities (galamsey) and chain-saw lumbering among others which required law enforcement because they were not only difficult to curb but also deadly to control.
"It is for those reasons that we the police see this YEA module as a timely intervention and worth embracing" he stated.
He advised the EPAs to be wary of "confrontations and attacks and other issues to tarnish their image as you are not going to have it easy in dealing with people who flout environmental regulations."
Unemployment
The Deputy Regional Director of the YEA in charge of operations, Mr Abdallah Salifu, observed that the unemployment situation had taken an international dimension but in Ghana the government and its partners had taken a bold step to tackle the issue.
According to him, so far in the Upper East Region, over 5,000 youths have been employed under the various modules of the YEA saying "we are still rolling out more modules and by 2017 we should be able to employ more youth."
He cautioned the EPAs against bribery and corruption and said they should focus on looking out for opportunities that would enable them to aspire to higher levels in the future.
Challenges
The Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr Asher Nkegbe said although the country was confronted with numerous environmental challenges, including plastic waste management, illegal mining and logging, it had inadequate human resources to address them.
He noted that the EPAs were to support the agency in its operational activities, particularly, in the areas of data collection and collation, data entry and quality control, educational campaigns on environmental issues and collaborate with the various district assemblies and environmental units in the districts to deal with issues on the environment.
Mr Nkegbe urged the EPAs to "exhibit a high sense of professionalism in the discharge of your duties in conformity with the core values of the EPA which are integrity,dedication,service and teamwork."
The Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Simon Afeku, noted that dealing with environmental issues was "a very important and herculean task" and pledged that the Police Service would support the EPAs in their duties.
DCOP Afeku further entreated them to take their duties seriously and to be disciplined, stressing that "your conduct on the field would be monitored."