Takoradi, Dec.13, GNA - Communities along the coastal belt of the Western Region have formed a Platform for the protection and development of coastal communities in the area.

Awulae Annor Adjaye 111, Omanhene of Western Nzema Traditional Area, announced this at a community meeting on Oil and Gas, organized by the Friends of the Nation (FoN) at Takoradi, at the weekend. He said the platform would focus mainly on coastal areas in the Western and Eastern Nzema, Upper and Lower Axim, Lower and Upper Dixcove, Ahanta, Sekondi, Essikadu and Shama traditional areas.

Awulae Adjaye said the platform would collaborate with district assemblies to ensure the enforcement of the Environmental Impact Assessment of the oil and gas industry along the coast.

The platform would also look at the dumping of waste into the sea and the pollution of other water bodies along the coast and the air. Awulae Adjaye said it would also ensure that coastal lands were not sold outright but sold on equity basis. He appealed to the government to establish a Coastal Commission to work hand in hand with the Fisheries Commission.