The Department of Parks and Gardens, afflicted by the absence of adequate staff and basic working tools, is now struggling to operate in only 10 out of the 18 municipalities and districts in the Volta Region.
It has only one worker each in the Ho West, Agotime-Ziope and Afadzato South districts, and one each in the Ketu South and Akatsi South municipalities.
In the Keta and Kpando municipalities, the department has only two workers each, and has none in the North Dayi, South Tongu, North Tongu, Central Tongu, Ketu North and Adaklu districts.
The acting Volta Regional Director of the department, Emmanuel Tawia Agbebianu, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview in Ho on Tuesday.
He said the department had offices in Ho, Keta and Kpando, while the workers in the other districts were ‘hanging around’ physical planning offices of the assemblies.
Meanwhile, Mr Agbebianu said, the department had no official vehicle in the region.
In the absence of basic gardening tools such as pick-axes, mowers, wheelbarrows, and shovels, most of the work was done manually, he disclosed.
Open spaces
He said the regional office in Ho, for instance, had only two rickety wheelbarrows and one slasher.
The acting Regional Director said that sometimes, the few workers got so overburdened with the workload that they brought their family members to assist them in carrying out the task.
Mr Agbebianu said that although the department had open spaces at its regional office to host social events such as weddings, funerals, and birthday celebrations, there are no garden chairs at those places.
He said only three workers were assigned to the Ho Residency, which required regular cleaning and beautification, and that was woefully inadequate, he told the Daily Graphic.
Mr Agbebianu maintained the region would rake in massive fortunes if recreational parks were developed, and other open spaces beautified for various social activities.
He said when resourced adequately, the Department of Parks and Gardens would perform its duties in landscaping, tree and flower seedlings production, gardening and gardening maintenance, and greening of the surroundings effectively, lifting the region to greater eco-friendly and economic heights.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh