ACCRA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The government of Ghana has introduced far-reaching measures to combat the menace of climate change through the distribution of free Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders to citizens, a release from the Ministry of Petroleum said here late Thursday.
To date, it said 60,000 cylinders had been distributed to rural households throughout the country.
According to the release, the program is part of the government's plans to ensure that 50 percent of Ghanaians use LPG by 2020.
Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah on Wednesday launched a program in Takoradi, 218 km west of the capital, to distribute 1,000 6kg LPG cylinders, cook stoves and related accessories to residents of the Western Region, according to the release.
"The Rural LPG Promotion Program is aimed at increasing access to LPG in communities and to address the challenges associated with the use of wood fuels," he explained.
He added: "The key objectives of the program are: reversing the detrimental effect of the continuous burning of more than 13 million tons of firewood annually; reducing respiratory diseases as a result of household air pollution acquired from the use of firewood and charcoal."
The minister explained that the program also was aimed at saving mothers and young children from the drudgery and the dangers of fetching firewood, and providing a cleaner, healthier and safer form of cooking fuel.
