The Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) has supported the 2022 edition of the Green Ghana Project with an amount of GHC500,000.
The donation was made by a GOIL delegation led by the Group CEO, Mr. Kwame Osei Prempeh to the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio who is also the Chairman of the National Green Ghana Planning Committee at the premise of the Ministry on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.
Disclosing the rationale behind the donation, Mr. Prempeh said the company is ready to be part of anything that moves the nation forward and the government’s reforestation programme, the Green Ghana initiative is one that needs to be supported.
“Our trade is selling fuel, and we know that fuel pollutes the environment so planting trees will help to absorb the carbon dioxide and make our oxygen cleaner so we can have a healthy life”, he said.
He stated that GOIL, as an indigenous Ghanaian business is not unaware of the huge benefit of the Green Ghana project to the sustainability of the environment.
Rehashing the old saying that “when the last tree dies, the last man also dies”, Mr. Kwame Osei Prempeh hammered on the importance of tree planting and said his outfit deems it necessary to support an exercise that in the long term will safeguard the environment and human lives.
Receiving the dummy cheque on behalf of the National Planning Committee, Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio, made glorifying remarks about GOIL noting that the significant donation will support various activities that will be done to ensure the success of the 2022 edition of the Green Ghana Project.
He disclosed that so far, 22.6 Million seedlings have been distributed and that effective monitoring and supervision will be done to keep track of the seedlings and ensure that they grow to serve the purpose for which they were planted.
He remarked that the Ministry and various agencies have a daunting task seeing to the growth of the trees and he will, as the Chairman of the committee ensure that the positive reports being fed by his office with respect to the success of the project continue.
Highlighting the need for institutions in the oil and gas industry to support the project, GOIL, he said, “is an oil company which sells fuel and the fuel which we have been told by the CEO is the best of quality in Ghana. Although it’s the best quality, it will still emit some carbon and there is the need for GOIL to help offset their carbon footprint”.
Hon. Benito made further appeals to corporate institutions to contribute to the protection of the environment.
Dr Antoinette Tsiboe- Darko, the Coordinator of the Fundraising committee of the Green Ghana Project expressed gratitude to GOIL Ghana and assured the funds will be used for the intended purposes.
The 2022 edition of the Green Ghana Project was held on Friday, June 10 with H. E the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, leading the country to plant a target of 20 million trees.