Kumasi mayor Osei Assibey Antwi has said the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly will be using CCTV cameras to trace and arrest recalcitrant residents who have been destroying trees planted in the metropolis.

He said the gadgets will be installed at various areas within the metropolis to trace those intentionally destroying them.

Mr Assibey was speaking to the media at a short ceremony to commence Friday’s tree-planting exercise at the State Experimental School, as part of the nationwide Green Ghana Project.

The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly has targeted planting over 500,000 trees.

According to the mayor, some recalcitrant residents have destroyed most of the trees planted by applying chemicals on them while others cut them down.

He said some areas where trees have been destroyed include Santasi Roundabout, Golden Tulip, Baba Yara Sports Stadium among others.

Mr Assibey said two people were arrested at the Golden Tulip area while a woman was also arrested and prosecuted for the same offence at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

He said the culprits, when interrogated, said they needed a place to farm as well as sell cars.

Mr Assibey said the assembly has decided to intensify public education on the need to protect and preserve trees and also plant economic trees like coconut, cola among others, which people hardly destroy.

Meanwhile, a pro-governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) group, Spartans Group for NPP, has adopted the trees planted along the Kumasi-Asafo and Santasi-Obuasi roads to maintain and sustain them until they take roots.

They also donated 250 cages to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly to guard the trees planted.