We must teach environmental awareness at an early age- Koranteng

Daniel Owusu Koranteng,General Secretary of the Maritime and Dockworkers' Union (MDU)

Environmentalist and General Secretary of the Maritime and Dockworkers' Union (MDU,) Daniel Owusu Koranteng, believes it is important to teach environmental awareness at an early age in order to change Ghana's current path of destruction.

Speaking on JoyNews Current Affairs Programme, PM Express, Owusu-Koranteng, pinpoints lack of environmental consciousness as a serious issue and reason for problems within the country.

“Look at our country today. We have almost everything but we have very serious environmental issues,” he says.

He believes if we ignore these issues, we will become incapable of sustaining economic development. He says many Ghanaians are disconnected with the environment and have learned to separate themselves from it.

Koranteng addresses the long term costs associated with the short term benefits for practices such as gold mining. Although mining produces revenue, the social and environmental costs are more severe than many know.

Cyanide aids in the extraction of gold, however, it is extremely toxic and pollutes water bodies.

Aside from toxins in the water, gold mining often is the reason for poverty because people are pushed out of their land, resulting in unemployment.

He emphasizes the importance in considering future generations in the discussion of environmental consciousness. He offers many suggestions to begin focusing on this issue including making it a part of curriculum in early education and encouraging more attention and social movements in the media.

“Environmental consciousness should start from our young people. . .it should become part of our curriculum,” Koranteng explains.

He believes it is important for people to understand that in the scheme of things, hurting one thing can be extremely detrimental to Ghana as

a whole.