Environmentalist and founder of Clean Ocean Project Ghana, Jennifer Naa Bampoe, has shared the tussles she and her colleagues go through to clean some parts of the country.

In an interview on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning show, she said some communities demand cash inducement before issuing permits to clean their surroundings.

Naa Bampoe recalled a recent scenario in which certain traders requested remuneration before granting an interview with them.

 “Sometimes they would want you to give them some funds before you could do it. Just this Saturday, I went to Kaneshie to talk to the market women, and one of them was like, if I talk to you, you need to give me money. So, before they grant you an audience, you would have to give them something before they would allow you to speak to them,” Naa Bampoe told her host.

Not only do they have to cope with financial concerns, but they are also beaten when they arrive in some villages to execute a project.

According to Naa Bampoe, despite the challenges she endured alongside her volunteer team, she is committed to making Ghana one of the cleanest countries in the world because of her genuine love for the environment.

“Working with this large number of volunteers alone is not easy. So, if not because of how passionate I am, I would just walk away.”

The thoughts of struggles they encounter at the various communities fill her with terror, making her break down for days prior to a subsequent place of concern and after it is tackled. They are always required to be constantly prepared in all areas before embarking on another exercise.

Naa Bampoe desires that all Ghanaians understand that there is only one earth that must be protected in order to prevent a global disaster.

The team equally helps provide potable drinking water to underserved communities after cleaning up the environment. Currently, they are working towards supporting five communities with boreholes.

The Clean Ocean Project Ghana is an initiative organised annually with a group of volunteers to help clean up water bodies in selected communities, seeking to promote sanitation. 

In an attempt to achieve favourable climatic conditions, their existence is to ensure a sustainable and conservative coastal ecosystem through conscious advocacy, effective public education, and other climate action initiatives.

They envision achieving a vibrant and sustainable coastal ecosystem in Ghana.