On Saturday, September 17, 2022, the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality of the Western Region‘s Zero Waste Bosomtwi organization and youth organizations conducted a clean-up operation in the communities of Huni Valley, Damang, Amoanda, and Bompieso.
The event took place on World Clean-up Day, which was established in 2008 to help the small country of Estonia in northern Europe clean up its houses and streets.
The program, sponsored by the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) via Abosso Gold Fields Limited (AGL), drew enthusiastic young people, volunteers, assembly members, unit committees, chiefs, corporate organizations, and Damang Mine staff, who cleaned palaces, the Huni Valley Clinic area, social grounds, markets, and waste disposal sites.
According to Justice Frimpong, the chairman of the Huni Valley Youth Association and program coordinator in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, Mr. Ebenezer Afful, the CEO of Zero Waste Bosomtwi, was the inspiration behind the initiative, which will start in 2020.
Initially, he recalled that, the event was held only in Huni Valley, but, the Damang, Amoanda and Bompieso communities were added this year, to expand and increase participation in environmental cleanliness in the mining areas.
He said “In the next five years, we expect it to be an embracing catchment programme beyond the four areas even up to Prestea, Bogoso and Takoradi, that’s our vision.
“The event today has been overwhelming and great. Partnership had also been good working with the chiefs, particularly Huni Valley chief, Nana Kwabena Amponsah. We will indeed make an impact on environmental cleanliness,” Mr Frimpong added.
He thanked AGL for their support.
The Senior Community Affairs Officer at Damang Mine, Eric Doe Ackuayi, also applauded the leadership shown by Huni Valley Youth and partners, adding that their efforts would help clean the environment and also be devoid of waste.
He believed the worldwide event would rekindle spirit of volunteerism and a driving force to maintain good environmental management in communities.
He said GFGF had spent about $1.3 million on water and sanitation programme and projects, including construction of toilets and solid waste management.
“AGL, through the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation seeks to promote development in all our host communities. Our focus areas include water and sanitation and if the whole world is commemorating this day, as a cleanup exercise, automatically, it falls within our key focus area when it comes to development. So we’re happy the youth in all these communities approached us and requested that the foundation collaborates with them,” Mr Ackuayi said.