The Dormaa Municipal Assembly would soon de-silt all choked streams under its purview to facilitate their free-flow and to prevent their use as breeding grounds by mosquitoes.
Mr. Vincent Oppong Asamoah, Municipal Chief Executive, announced the plans on Tuesday, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at
Dormaa-Ahenkro on the state of the Akrodie stream, which runs through the middle of the town but has become stagnant for many years.
The stream is being used as a refuse dump.
He explained that the Akrodie Stream and many others in the municipality were until the late 1980s flowing swiftly and served the needs
of those living along their banks but their condition changed when the people turned them into refuse dumps.
Mr. Asamoah observed that the people living along those streams preferred to make the water bodies their refuse dumps and farmlands.
"During the dry season, all the valleys and courses of the streams and rivers around us are turned into farmlands where crude irrigation methodsare employed to scoop water to irrigate the fields," he added.
Mr. Asamoah said what was most annoying was that the farmers failed to plant any trees to replace those destroyed along the water bodies and saidhenceforth the assembly would be vigilant on "such vandals" to them face the full rigours of law.
He appealed to school authorities, traditional leaders and Non-Governmental Organisations to take the government's tree planting policies seriously and assist in their implementation.
Mr. Asamoah announced that the municipal assembly was considering an award scheme and packages for groups and individuals "who might delight" inprotecting and improving upon the environment.