The ministry of fisheries under the ministry of food and agriculture has drafted policy documentation to address the depleting stock size of fisheries resources of the country.
The policy document which is expected to be rolled out for implementation very soon is would serve as a blue print for the management of fisheries, resources and development of aquaculture in the country.
This was disclosed in Accra last Friday by the Minister of Fisheries, Mrs. Gladys Asmah at a sod cutting ceremony for the commencement of the James Town Fishing Harbour.
The policy document when rolled out would be the first of its kind in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and is aimed at exploiting the full potentials of the sector to benefit players in the industry.
Mrs. Asmah said global climatic changes coupled with the seeming exploitation by the various operators in the industry that have resulted in conflict among them are a contributory factor in the decline of stock size of fisheries resources.
According to the minister, the national policy on fisheries and aquaculture when implemented would also address the aforementioned factors to make the sector more vibrant and robust.
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Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Kufuor revives fishing industry
The fishing industry last Friday received a boost when President John Agyekum Kufuor cut the sod for the commencement of fishing harbour and landing sites for the James Town fishing community.
The project is valued at $16.5million. Same projects would be built in thirteen (13) other fishing communities along the Atlantic coast of the Western, Eastern and Central regions and the shores of the Volta Lake in the Volta region.
The overall projects is valued at the cost of $148 million which include six (6) cold stores, breakwater site administration and management, fish market, fishnet mending shed, fishnet storage facility, ice making plants, workshops, fuel depots, power stations, toilet blocks and day care centres to address the needs of market women in each of the beneficiary communities mentioned above.
President Kufuor in his address said his administration was touched by the potentials of the fishing industry as a tool in alleviating poverty, hence the need to revive and modernize the sector to improve on the economic activities of players in the industry.
The construction of the aforementioned facilities was against the backdrop of the President’s pledge at the beginning of his tenure of office to promote fishing activities across the country.
The commencement of the projects have brought sigh of relief to players in the fishing industry as many expressed the belief that the construction of the projects would go a long way towards achieving the millennium development goals.
“The construction of these modern fishing harbours and landing sites would go a long way to modernize fishing especially in the artisan and the inshore sector of the fishing industry. The safety of the boats and the crew would be enhanced just as the handling, processing and preservation of catches for optimum marketing and good pricing regime”, noted Joe Kramo, Information Director of the Ghana Inshore Fisheries Association.
“In this regard, the government’s policy of poverty reduction would be achieved in the near future”, he added.
The facilities when completed would enable a much cleaner and more hygienic way of fish handling and storage operations that are in compliance with main stream requirements of the European Union.
“The facilities when properly used would allow for a substantial more efficient fisheries sector, reducing post harvest losses and boosting higher returns”, noted Jan Oomen, Director of the International Projects at DHV of the Netherlands who initiated feasibility studies of the projects.
He challenged players in the sector to strike the right balance between producing for local and international markets in order to maximize profits as it was one of the barriers facing the fishing industry.
The Minister of Fisheries, Mrs. Gladys Asmah in her address expressed the hope that the construction of the new facilities would revive the sector to improve living conditions of those associated with the industry.
According to her, various prudent measures her ministry implemented have resulted in bumper harvest of raw tuna to feed the fish canneries.
Touching on the construction of the new projects, the sector minister said 80% of the contract cost paid to the consortium for the design and feasibility study of all the 14 projects was paid through the ministry’s internally generated funds whiles the other 20% was paid from the Food and Agriculture Budgetary Support (FABS), from CIBA of the Canadian High Commission.
According to her, the government, committed to make the sector more vibrant has started the process of taking over the Tema Boatyard which was divested in 1996.
According to her, the inability of the company to refurbish canoes and boats had put the fishermen in danger, a situation she said had led to the lost of more than 40 boats and canoes over the past two years.
The project is valued at $16.5million. Same projects would be built in thirteen (13) other fishing communities along the Atlantic coast of the Western, Eastern and Central regions and the shores of the Volta Lake in the Volta region.
The overall projects is valued at the cost of $148 million which include six (6) cold stores, breakwater site administration and management, fish market, fishnet mending shed, fishnet storage facility, ice making plants, workshops, fuel depots, power stations, toilet blocks and day care centres to address the needs of market women in each of the beneficiary communities mentioned above.
President Kufuor in his address said his administration was touched by the potentials of the fishing industry as a tool in alleviating poverty, hence the need to revive and modernize the sector to improve on the economic activities of players in the industry.
The construction of the aforementioned facilities was against the backdrop of the President’s pledge at the beginning of his tenure of office to promote fishing activities across the country.
The commencement of the projects have brought sigh of relief to players in the fishing industry as many expressed the belief that the construction of the projects would go a long way towards achieving the millennium development goals.
“The construction of these modern fishing harbours and landing sites would go a long way to modernize fishing especially in the artisan and the inshore sector of the fishing industry. The safety of the boats and the crew would be enhanced just as the handling, processing and preservation of catches for optimum marketing and good pricing regime”, noted Joe Kramo, Information Director of the Ghana Inshore Fisheries Association.
“In this regard, the government’s policy of poverty reduction would be achieved in the near future”, he added.
The facilities when completed would enable a much cleaner and more hygienic way of fish handling and storage operations that are in compliance with main stream requirements of the European Union.
“The facilities when properly used would allow for a substantial more efficient fisheries sector, reducing post harvest losses and boosting higher returns”, noted Jan Oomen, Director of the International Projects at DHV of the Netherlands who initiated feasibility studies of the projects.
He challenged players in the sector to strike the right balance between producing for local and international markets in order to maximize profits as it was one of the barriers facing the fishing industry.
The Minister of Fisheries, Mrs. Gladys Asmah in her address expressed the hope that the construction of the new facilities would revive the sector to improve living conditions of those associated with the industry.
According to her, various prudent measures her ministry implemented have resulted in bumper harvest of raw tuna to feed the fish canneries.
Touching on the construction of the new projects, the sector minister said 80% of the contract cost paid to the consortium for the design and feasibility study of all the 14 projects was paid through the ministry’s internally generated funds whiles the other 20% was paid from the Food and Agriculture Budgetary Support (FABS), from CIBA of the Canadian High Commission.
According to her, the government, committed to make the sector more vibrant has started the process of taking over the Tema Boatyard which was divested in 1996.
According to her, the inability of the company to refurbish canoes and boats had put the fishermen in danger, a situation she said had led to the lost of more than 40 boats and canoes over the past two years.
"All must help build a modern society"
The Founder and Leader of the Central International Gospel Church, Pastor Mensah Otabil has observed that for Ghana to progress towards attaining a modern society status, it demands greater contributions from its citizens in realizing this dream.
According to the Pastor, some people perceive modernization as borrowings from the western world, a situation he said does not auger well in our critical thinking towards progress.
Pastor Otabil was speaking as the guest speaker at the just ended 13th Memorial lectures of William Ofori-Atta in Accra last Friday. It was dubbed “The Bridge to a peaceful modern society, the heritage of Paa Willie and the challenges for the future”.
He said human society throughout the ages has benefited from the cross-pollination of ideas and ideals from various groups and therefore behoves on the individual to make good use of what he or she has learnt to benefit the whole country.
“The truth, however, is that modernization is not a property of the West or the ‘white man’. Human society throughout the ages has benefited from the cross-pollination of ideas and ideals from the various groups. Each race and ethnic group has contributed to the creation and development of the ideas that we share in today. Having being pat of the creation and development of knowledge, it is only right that we distil the best out of the whole and learn to use it for our benefit”, he noted.
According to Pastor Otabil, greater responsibility lies on the individual to be steadfast in making good use of all the resources available to him or her towards building a healthy environment since a worrying hazard of modernization is that it carries along with it alternate lifestyles which sometimes threaten existing and well-established social norms.
“To build a modern society, we must be able to build the necessary balance between urbanization and the social systems that support our society”, he said.
He averred that for us a country to humanize our society, in a modern era, “we will have to develop new initiatives through the cooperation of state welfare and private philanthropic efforts to address the social fallouts of urbanization”.
Pastor Otabil however, challenged citizens of the land to be able to think on their own, choose their own path instead of preferring the standard template solutions from others and be bold to act on their own and literally “take our own destiny into our own hands”.
“These are the attitudes and perspectives that should influence our national choices. This quest for new possibilities must feel our determination to see the wheels of innovative thinking turn faster in our nation”, he added.
Pastor Mensah Otabil was however worried about the way citizens of the land have contributed in creating problems for the country, a situation he said “all should be part of the solution”.
According to the Pastor, most enquiring minds are incarcerated in dark dungeons filled with ancient taboos, reprisals from the world yonder, curses, ghosts and man-eating witches. He described such minds as that which undermined the human effort towards progress.
“Formal education does not really have the power to change peoples’ core assumptions. Is it any wonder that we continue to employ juju, necromancy and witchcraft as valid tools to help us advance in life? In our world the means of progressing in life does not only rely on factors such as education, performance and experience but the concoctions of the village diviner”, he said.
He expressed his gloomy thoughts on how some enlightened people in society who are aspiring to political office consider the concoctions and profusions of the soothsayer more potent than scientific opinion polls.
“We pretend to be enlightened in public but resort to dubious spiritual excursions in the dark”, he noted.
Pastor Otabil implored the people to leave exemplary lives that worthy to emulate by future leaders of the country.
Linking the aforementioned statements to that of the late William Ofori-Atta, Pastor Otabil described him as an astute politician who combined his Christian values to that of politics to achieve the ultimate for the country.
“Paa Willie is remembered not only as notable pillar of Ghanaian politics, but also as a person who carried his Christian convictions of integrity, equity and tolerance of other people’s views into the pubic arena”, he noted.
According to the Pastor, some people perceive modernization as borrowings from the western world, a situation he said does not auger well in our critical thinking towards progress.
Pastor Otabil was speaking as the guest speaker at the just ended 13th Memorial lectures of William Ofori-Atta in Accra last Friday. It was dubbed “The Bridge to a peaceful modern society, the heritage of Paa Willie and the challenges for the future”.
He said human society throughout the ages has benefited from the cross-pollination of ideas and ideals from various groups and therefore behoves on the individual to make good use of what he or she has learnt to benefit the whole country.
“The truth, however, is that modernization is not a property of the West or the ‘white man’. Human society throughout the ages has benefited from the cross-pollination of ideas and ideals from the various groups. Each race and ethnic group has contributed to the creation and development of the ideas that we share in today. Having being pat of the creation and development of knowledge, it is only right that we distil the best out of the whole and learn to use it for our benefit”, he noted.
According to Pastor Otabil, greater responsibility lies on the individual to be steadfast in making good use of all the resources available to him or her towards building a healthy environment since a worrying hazard of modernization is that it carries along with it alternate lifestyles which sometimes threaten existing and well-established social norms.
“To build a modern society, we must be able to build the necessary balance between urbanization and the social systems that support our society”, he said.
He averred that for us a country to humanize our society, in a modern era, “we will have to develop new initiatives through the cooperation of state welfare and private philanthropic efforts to address the social fallouts of urbanization”.
Pastor Otabil however, challenged citizens of the land to be able to think on their own, choose their own path instead of preferring the standard template solutions from others and be bold to act on their own and literally “take our own destiny into our own hands”.
“These are the attitudes and perspectives that should influence our national choices. This quest for new possibilities must feel our determination to see the wheels of innovative thinking turn faster in our nation”, he added.
Pastor Mensah Otabil was however worried about the way citizens of the land have contributed in creating problems for the country, a situation he said “all should be part of the solution”.
According to the Pastor, most enquiring minds are incarcerated in dark dungeons filled with ancient taboos, reprisals from the world yonder, curses, ghosts and man-eating witches. He described such minds as that which undermined the human effort towards progress.
“Formal education does not really have the power to change peoples’ core assumptions. Is it any wonder that we continue to employ juju, necromancy and witchcraft as valid tools to help us advance in life? In our world the means of progressing in life does not only rely on factors such as education, performance and experience but the concoctions of the village diviner”, he said.
He expressed his gloomy thoughts on how some enlightened people in society who are aspiring to political office consider the concoctions and profusions of the soothsayer more potent than scientific opinion polls.
“We pretend to be enlightened in public but resort to dubious spiritual excursions in the dark”, he noted.
Pastor Otabil implored the people to leave exemplary lives that worthy to emulate by future leaders of the country.
Linking the aforementioned statements to that of the late William Ofori-Atta, Pastor Otabil described him as an astute politician who combined his Christian values to that of politics to achieve the ultimate for the country.
“Paa Willie is remembered not only as notable pillar of Ghanaian politics, but also as a person who carried his Christian convictions of integrity, equity and tolerance of other people’s views into the pubic arena”, he noted.
Okudzeto calls for national unity
Mr. Sam Okudzeto, a legal practitioner has appealed to Ghanaians to come together as one family irrespective of any tribe to vote for a credible candidate who can champion the course of the country to greater heights.
According to him, intolerance and tribalism in the political history of Ghana which has been overblown by many and for selfish purposes has resulted in the country not advancing, a situation he said needed to be changed.
Mr. Sam Okudzeto was speaking as the guest speaker at the just ended 13th William Ofori-Atta Memorial lectures at the Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church hall in Accra.
Making reference to the Akan-Ewe tribes as the worse of the distortions, Okudzeto said the two never fought against each other as perceived by many in the country but are close allies as intermarriage and resettlement by the two is a clear testimony to that effect.
He therefore called on ethic groups in the country to eschew their differences and come together to push the nation’s agenda forward.
Mr. Okudzeto said political parties are necessary machinery for democratic governance which needed to be used wisely to propagate peaceful message but not to be used as a tool to cause mayhem in a society.
According to him, the ugly legacy of the early 50’s which resulted in violence where arson and anarchy reined for about three years in and around Kumasi should serve as a warning and be a duty and responsibility for all the political parties to prevent such act in the upcoming general elections in December.
“A person belonging to another party is not an enemy to be fought, maimed or killed. Ghana is for all and all are for Ghana”, he noted.
He averred that references by politicians to the violence in Kenya are misconceived since the country has witnessed such political violence before. He noted that Ghana has over the past years been a shinning star on the continent and will continue to stand as symbol of hope for democratic governance in Africa and the world.
Mr. Okudzeto who is a native of the Ewe land challenged Ghanaians to take lessons from the recent American elections where clear message devoid of negative propaganda was used by Senator Barack Obama to canvass votes for his presidential ambition.
“One of the lessons we should learn from the recent American elections is that negative propaganda does not aid in winning an election. If a young 47 years old and some say inexperience black man can overcome all the obstacles of racial prejudice and emerge victorious and become the president, it should make us in Africa sit up”, he observed.
He added “we should treat politics as a friendly game in which we pitch our talents and see who wins. Peace is not just a word. It is something we must live. It is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed”.
According to him, Ghanaians must work towards peace so as to appreciate differences in opinion, aptitude or temperament and learn to live with it.
He advocated the need to forgive one another for past events saying “forgiveness is a healing that every nation needs to move on” drawing lessons from situations where some African Americans have refused to forgive the whites for slave trade and continue to suffer because of it.
“For if one does not forgive, one does not understand, and if one does not understand, one is afraid, and if one is afraid, one hates, and if one hates, one cannot love. And no beginning on earth is possible without love, particularly in a world where men increasingly not only do not know how to love but cannot even recognize it when comes searching for them”, he noted. “The first step towards the love then must be forgiveness”, he added.
He stressed that the only path towards peace is forgiveness, a situation he said, if not adhered to, will lead chaos and retreat.
According to him, intolerance and tribalism in the political history of Ghana which has been overblown by many and for selfish purposes has resulted in the country not advancing, a situation he said needed to be changed.
Mr. Sam Okudzeto was speaking as the guest speaker at the just ended 13th William Ofori-Atta Memorial lectures at the Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church hall in Accra.
Making reference to the Akan-Ewe tribes as the worse of the distortions, Okudzeto said the two never fought against each other as perceived by many in the country but are close allies as intermarriage and resettlement by the two is a clear testimony to that effect.
He therefore called on ethic groups in the country to eschew their differences and come together to push the nation’s agenda forward.
Mr. Okudzeto said political parties are necessary machinery for democratic governance which needed to be used wisely to propagate peaceful message but not to be used as a tool to cause mayhem in a society.
According to him, the ugly legacy of the early 50’s which resulted in violence where arson and anarchy reined for about three years in and around Kumasi should serve as a warning and be a duty and responsibility for all the political parties to prevent such act in the upcoming general elections in December.
“A person belonging to another party is not an enemy to be fought, maimed or killed. Ghana is for all and all are for Ghana”, he noted.
He averred that references by politicians to the violence in Kenya are misconceived since the country has witnessed such political violence before. He noted that Ghana has over the past years been a shinning star on the continent and will continue to stand as symbol of hope for democratic governance in Africa and the world.
Mr. Okudzeto who is a native of the Ewe land challenged Ghanaians to take lessons from the recent American elections where clear message devoid of negative propaganda was used by Senator Barack Obama to canvass votes for his presidential ambition.
“One of the lessons we should learn from the recent American elections is that negative propaganda does not aid in winning an election. If a young 47 years old and some say inexperience black man can overcome all the obstacles of racial prejudice and emerge victorious and become the president, it should make us in Africa sit up”, he observed.
He added “we should treat politics as a friendly game in which we pitch our talents and see who wins. Peace is not just a word. It is something we must live. It is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed”.
According to him, Ghanaians must work towards peace so as to appreciate differences in opinion, aptitude or temperament and learn to live with it.
He advocated the need to forgive one another for past events saying “forgiveness is a healing that every nation needs to move on” drawing lessons from situations where some African Americans have refused to forgive the whites for slave trade and continue to suffer because of it.
“For if one does not forgive, one does not understand, and if one does not understand, one is afraid, and if one is afraid, one hates, and if one hates, one cannot love. And no beginning on earth is possible without love, particularly in a world where men increasingly not only do not know how to love but cannot even recognize it when comes searching for them”, he noted. “The first step towards the love then must be forgiveness”, he added.
He stressed that the only path towards peace is forgiveness, a situation he said, if not adhered to, will lead chaos and retreat.
Female cocoa farmers for help
Women cocoa farmers in the Wassa Atobiase in the Western Region have appealed to the government to come to their aid by making credit facilities easier and accessible to them.
This they said would help expand their activities to produce more in subsequent seasons.
According to the cocoa farmers, they lack funds to hire labour to work on their farms especially during the crop season which makes them impossible to produce more.
“I have a very big cocoa farm but because I don’t have money to hire labourers to work in it, most of the cocoa are not harvested and are left in the bush to rot. The little that I’m able to do by myself is what I feed on till the next harvest season”, noted Ante Amoh, one of the women cocoa farmers this reporter spoke to.
She commended government for its efforts to increase cocoa production in the future but said “that dream will not be a reality if government fails to provide us credit facilities”
Another farmer also complained bitterly about the government’s inability to repair the bridge on river Subiri that link Ankaako to Atobiase and its surrounding villages, a situation she said makes it impossible to cart their goods when there is heavy downpour of rain.
“That bridge is very dear to us and the surrounding villages. When it breaks down, economic activities cease. It has been there for decades and it must be changed. When there is fault, we have to carry our goods on our heads, walk through the river if the level is low or swim to the other side before one can reach his or her destination. Others who are unable to do it are left at the banks of the river in their own faith”, said Adwoa Pokuwaa.
When this reporter visited the bridge, it was in a dilapidated state which needed to be changed to help save the communities that ply it.
This they said would help expand their activities to produce more in subsequent seasons.
According to the cocoa farmers, they lack funds to hire labour to work on their farms especially during the crop season which makes them impossible to produce more.
“I have a very big cocoa farm but because I don’t have money to hire labourers to work in it, most of the cocoa are not harvested and are left in the bush to rot. The little that I’m able to do by myself is what I feed on till the next harvest season”, noted Ante Amoh, one of the women cocoa farmers this reporter spoke to.
She commended government for its efforts to increase cocoa production in the future but said “that dream will not be a reality if government fails to provide us credit facilities”
Another farmer also complained bitterly about the government’s inability to repair the bridge on river Subiri that link Ankaako to Atobiase and its surrounding villages, a situation she said makes it impossible to cart their goods when there is heavy downpour of rain.
“That bridge is very dear to us and the surrounding villages. When it breaks down, economic activities cease. It has been there for decades and it must be changed. When there is fault, we have to carry our goods on our heads, walk through the river if the level is low or swim to the other side before one can reach his or her destination. Others who are unable to do it are left at the banks of the river in their own faith”, said Adwoa Pokuwaa.
When this reporter visited the bridge, it was in a dilapidated state which needed to be changed to help save the communities that ply it.
Picture caption: Ante Amoh, a farmer at Wassa Atobiase spreading her cocoa beans in the sun.
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