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Mr Claude Maerten, European Union (EU) Ambassador and Head of Delegation to Ghana, and Mrs Claudia Turbay Quintero, Colombia Ambassador in Ghana, have commended Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister of the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI). The Ambassadors said Mr Opong-Fosu performed creditably at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, and therefore pledged their commitment to support him at his new Ministry to serve Ghana to the extreme. The Ambassadors made the commendation when they jointly paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra on Thursday. Mr Maerten recounted that MESTI has successfully launched two major policies, the National Environment Policy and the National Climate Change Policy, which he said, were an achievement in a right direction to save Ghana�s environment. He said the implementation of the two policies was very important, and that the EU was ready to support MESTI with financing for the implementation of the policies. Mr Maerten said the EU was more than happy to work with the Ministry, and assured the Minister of its commitment and support towards financing the implementation and protection of the ministry's environmental policies. Mr Maerten said the EU will support MESTI with seven million euros, which is intended to support the ministry's environmental and science sectors for the next two years, to help control environmental degradation in mining areas. "It is also intended to strengthen and improve on existing environmental laws, and its enforcement to guide the destruction of water bodies in small-scale mining areas.� Mrs Quintero said Ghana has a lot to benefit from Colombia in the area of science and technology, and gave the assurance that Colombia will support the Ministry to execute its mandate. She said Colombia has a Special Strategy of Co-operation with Ghana which can be used to project MESTI's activities, and invited the Minister and his team to visit Colombia's Ministry of Science and the Environment, for collaboration. Mrs Quintero said the two Ministries could work on climate change and eco-tourism issues, adding that, the safety mine workers and the protection of the environment were major issues the ministry should look at. The Colombia Ambassador said Bogota, the Capital of Colombia, has a science park which promotes science and technology at all levels and standards, and that Colombia was the first country to propose the Environmental Protection Strategy for Post 2015. Mr Opong-Fosu said the EU was a major partner which supports Ghana in all sectors of the country economic development, and thanked them for the support. He said the Government of Ghana still needs the support of the EU and other International Donor Countries to resolve the nation's current economic challenges which pose economic hardships to the citizenry. Mr Opong-Fosu recounted that in 2007, the World Bank conducted an environmental survey which indicated that 12 per cent of of the environmental degradation causes were from the forestry and mining sectors. He said MESTI stands on two pillars, the environmental and science and technology sectors, and that the Ministry has done a lot in the areas which was not visible. The Minister disclosed tha next week, the Ministry will be visiting the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where a Science and Technology Park Project is on-going for students, researchers and industry players to apply their research work for results. He assured the EU Ambassador that assistance given to the Ministry will be used for its intended purpose, mainly in the small-scale mining sector where Agriculture lands are damaged and water bodies polluted. Mr Opong-Fosu said this will help reclaim the lands for Agricultural purposes, and also protect the environment from degradation, in order to generate jobs for the citizenry, especially the Youth. He said MESTI will soon seek the assistance of Colombia in the area of science and technology, adding that, the ministry was establishing a ground satellite station at Kuntenase in the Ashanti Region for the monitoring of miners who degrade the environment. Mr Opong-Fosu said the ministry's team will make a follow-up to the Colombian Embassy for further discussions which can bring sustainable solutions into the environmental and science sectors. He thanked the two Ambassadors for their support to Ghana, and assured them of government's commitment and determination to work with them to improve the standards of living of its citizens.