Parliament yesterday could not make up the required quorum necessary for the passage of a Bill for the second time since the House resumed sitting.
At the end of proceedings, the floor of the House became more or less empty with most honourable members absent from their seats.
Members present in the House were finally constituted less than a third of the total population of the House.
At this juncture, the Fisheries Bill tabled on the floor of the House in a report by the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs could not be passed by the House and thus deferred to another day to enable Members of the House provide the final decision on the Bill.
The consolidation of the essential legislative requirement in respect of the fishing industry became necessary for the passage of the Fisheries Bill, which seeks to ensure that the country derives the full benefit of the fish stock in its waters.
According to the Committee, chaired by Hon. Alex K. Korankye, Member of Parliament for Asante Akim South, in its reports, the country's fishery resources have been saddled with rapid depletion in recent times following the inefficient management of resources.
This is characterized with the inappropriate and unauthorized use of methods of fishing, encroachment on Ghana's fishery waters and large-scale sale of fish caught in the country's waters on the high seas by registered vessels of Ghanaian origin to foreign vessels.
The committee further contended that the country is endowed with extensive fishing grounds, which if carefully and properly monitored and managed would increase the national revenue of the country and thus create employment for the teeming proportion of the nation's work force.
It is in this respect that the committee in its recommendations to Parliament, seeks to revise and improve the existing statutes regulating fishing in the country to make way for improving the legislative base of monitoring, controlling and initiating surveillance on the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the Inshore Exclusive Zone (IEZ) for efficient management.
Meanwhile, the honourable Deputy Minister for Tourism and MP for Okaikwei South, Nana Akomea, appeared before the House to respond to questions in respect to his Ministry on behalf of the Minister for Tourism, Hon. Hawa Yakubu, who it is learnt is on a visit to Nigeria.
According to him, the Ministry's 15-year National Development Plan recognizes all the major tourist attraction areas for both domestic and international tourism.
He maintained that his outfit would facilitate investment in the provision of visitor reception facilities in an ecologically sustainable manner.
According to Hon. Akomea, a couple of investors have expressed interest in resort developments along river banks and in water sports and diving, especially at the Korle Lagoon, which is currently undergoing an Ecological Restoration Project implemented by the Ministries of Works and Housing, Local Government and Rural Development and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, adding "when the restoration is completed, the ministry would move to secure these investors."
He therefore encouraged district assemblies and traditional authorities to hold discussions on how best they could invest in and manage ecological sites in their jurisdiction as economic ventures that would enhance the living standards of their citizens.
Currently, he said, his ministry, in collaboration with NGOs engaged in ecological conservation as investment partners, is sourcing funds from USAID and UNDP to provide the reception facilities and other enhancement and marketing support that would turn selected ecological sites, such as Boti Falls and Mole National Park, among others, into eco-tourism.
