Tema based NGO to mount platform for parties

Tema, July 10, GNA - The Corporate Social Responsibility Movement (CSRM) a Tema based environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO), is to mount platform for leaders of political parties in the five constituencies in the Tema municipality to present their manifestoes.

Nii Richster Amarh Amarfio, Executive Secretary of the NGO, who announced this at a workshop for political representatives of the constituencies on Friday at Tema, said the political leaders would be made to concentrate on environmental and labour issues because they were pressing in Tema.

He explained that sometime now environmental issues especially the Chemu Lagoon, has been neglected thus rendering the indigenous people who depend on it for their livelihood jobless while labour issues needed to be adequately addressed.

The platform to be mounted in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation would commit the leaders on their responsibilities to the electorate to enable the people to hold them responsible when they are elected into office.

According to him, the companies whose activities pollute or degrade the environment have not done much to redress the issue, saying, they should be compelled to live up to their social responsibilities. Mr Amarh Sheriff Ashitey, Deputy Executive Secretary of the NGO, said the environment is the hub around, which all activities including politics revolve, adding that, "so if it is sick the health of the people would be compromised and this affect the quality of work life.

"To this end, political parties as stakeholders have a major role to play in ensuring corporate social responsibility in the community since it provides the platform on which governments are formed to formulate and implement policies".

The representatives of the parties described the move as laudable and promised to convey the message to their leaders.

The constituencies in the municipality are Tema West and East, Adenta, Kpone/Katamanso and Ashaiman.

The National Democratic Congress, New Patriotic Party, Convention Peoples' Party and the Peoples' National Party were represented at the workshop.

The theme was "addressing social problems through corporate social and environmental responsibility- ideal roles of political parties". 10 July 04