2018 is my action year – Minister

The member of Parliament (MP) for Krowor Constituency, who doubles as the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mrs Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, has declared 2018 as “my action year” following the commencement of projects in the constituency.

Mrs Quaye, the first female lawmaker in the history of the constituency, explained that the year 2017 was used to engage investors and lobby them for projects and that processes for the projects to be realised had been completed.

In an interview with the DAILY HERITAGE, Mrs Quaye announced the construction of an ice block factory at Nungua in the newest Krowor Municipality of the Greater Accra Region to inspire fishing activities in the area.

According to her, the construction of the ice block factory this year would be supported by the Korea Overseas Fisheries Association and expressed the government’s commitment to growing the fishing industry.

“We are starting this year. I call this year my action year. Last year we were getting the processes in place and we were trying to engage with investors and all that, so this year is our action year. Contracts have been awarded and contracts will be awarded for the construction of the projects to start.

While borrowing the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s words “I’m in a hurry” to buttress her point, she said, “My President is in a hurry, and I cannot do less than that, but also be in a hurry.”

All ready for ice block factory

The Minister said, “I want to immediately tell the whole world and the people of Krowor that we are putting up an ice making factory in Krowor. This is happening now because all the materials needed for the construction of the facility are ready,” she said.

According to the MP, the government has identified fish as a key commodity in the agriculture sector, and had taken steps to support women in the sector by providing them with improved fish-smoking ovens.

“It is important for our waterbodies to be safe. Ghanaians must desist from desecrating the sea with plastic waste otherwise we will wake up one day to the painful realisation that the perceived bottomless monumental treasure is gone for good,” Mrs Afoley Quaye warned.

She commended fishermen nationwide for their effort in providing the country with fish despite the challenges that the sector has encountered, particularly in relation to climate change.

She, however, charged the fisher-folk to protect the ocean and other water bodies to ensure they reap better rewards from their trade.

Plastic Waste Plant for Teshie-Nungua

Mrs Quaye also told the paper that the Fisheries Ministry under the Alternative livelihood Programme for the close-season, “we are siting a plastic processing facility in this constituency, (Nungua), and we are siting another one at Teshie, so the fishermen themselves will go round and collect the plastic waste and process them so that is also going to be a way of managing the plastic waste.”

Dredging

Touching on how soon major drains in the constituency would be dredged and others constructed, Mrs Quaye said, “Immediately we will have to dredge them, we have to de-silt the drains to allow water to flow.

According to her, “It is getting closer to the rainy season, so immediately we have to take out the plastics that have filled the drain to protect the residents, at least. We have already written to the Urban Roads Department, so they have also come round to inspect the drain. What we have to do is to push for the construction of the storm drain immediately.

“It is a project that I want to do this particular this. Last year we were able to capture it in our budget so it’s already there. What we have to do is to ensure that the contract is awarded for the construction,” she explained.

While calling on the constituency to be all involving, she said, “Before the dredging is done for the construction to take place, we will engage with the residents to be part of it, educate them and let them know why they should not be dumping solid waste in the drain.”

Sports complex

Touching on the construction of a sports complex in the constituency, the MP said land for the construction had been secured and a sod-cutting ceremony would be performed to mark the commencement of the project immediately.

The complex, she said, would be situated at the Nungua Royal Height School area, a development that has led to the MP donating bags of cement, gravels and trips of sand for the construction of a bridge for easy access to the demarcated area for the complex.

“We are going to construct a Sports Complex at Nungua because we have had a lot of footballers here, we have had many athletes here, so what it means is that we have the talents here and we need to develop them. We don’t have a place for the youth to recognise as a playing centre so we are coming to build one,” she earlier told the paper.

Support Nungua police

The MP, as part of her effort to strengthen the existing bond with the police, has donated 10 gold acrylic paint, five Azar paint filler, eight pieces of Leyland gross finish, 12 gallons of turpentine, a set of sand paper, a 43-inch LED television set and an undisclosed amount to the Kpeshie Divisional Police Command.