A ten member-district forest task force to check chainsaw operators in the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar (SKC) was inaugurated by the Okyehene Osaygefuo Amotia Ofori Panin and the District Chief Executive, Mr. Michael Kofi Mensah. The inauguration came on at Suhum at the weekend at the launching of this year’s Okyeman Environmental week at Suhum. Speaking at the function, Okyenehen Osagyefo Ofori Panin explained that the annual launching of Okyeman Environmental Week is to educate the communities under his stool to change their attitude towards environmental issue. He said out of 8.2 million hectres of forest cover in Akyem Abuakwa, only 1.6 million hecteres of the forest is left and that seven million hectres have been destroyed and that if measures were not taken, the rest would also be destroyed. The Okyenhene said the ancestors left the forest because of its values and that the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council would do everything possible to protect the rest of the forest. He appealed to the Chiefs and elders in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area to abide by the rules of the land by observing the banning of wakekeeping. The Deputy Minister of Youth, Employment and Manpower, Dr. L. Y. Brempong-Yeboah gave the assurance that, the government would continue to forge strong partnership with Chiefs to ensure the sustainability of the national youth employment proper. He said there are many things which the youth can do under the National Youth Employment Programme(NYEP) being implemented by his ministry and the district employment task force to support environmental protection. Source: GNA