Rawlings commission?s new fishing harbour at Sekondi

Sekondi (Western Region), 2nd June ?99 ?

The fishing community at Sekondi-Takoradi sang and danced with joy when President Jerry John Rawlings commissioned a fishing harbour at Sekondi today.

At the commissioning, was the former Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Ryutaro Hashimoto who is on a three-day visit to the country whose country supported the project with 13 million dollars.

Started in September 1997 and completed in March this year, the fishing harbour has a 200-metre-long breakwater and a 76-metre-long jetty.

There are two wharfs for inshore vessels. Other facilities include an ice-making plant, ice storage unit, fish handling shed, administration block, water supply system and fire fighting system.

President Rawlings said the new harbour would ravamp the fishing industry and reactivate the socio-economic vitality of the port as far as the Sekondi-Takoradi twin-city is concerned.

"The fishermen of this area are now assured of adequate protection for their vessels which otherwise suffer losses and damage during rainy and stormy weather".

President Rawlings said because of lack of safe mooring as well as adequate facilities for storage and marketing, many fishermen from the Western coast of Ghana moved together with their families to neighbouring countries.

"Let us hope that these fine new facilities will motivate some of our lost fishermen to come home," he said.

President Rawlings added annual export earnings in fish are over 19 million dollars and hoped that this will shoot up with the anticipated increase in fishing activities at the new harbour.

He said Japan has given assistance to Ghana especially in the country's most difficult years, adding that Japanese finance went into areas such as telecommunications, ports and roads.

The President recalled his official visit to Japan in 1997 when Mr Hashimoto was the Prime Minister and said during their talks, it was clear that Japan was genuine in its desire to assist Ghana.

He also spoke about the "Hashimoto initiatives" under which Japan would help control and eradicate communicable diseases in West Africa.

President Rawlings said the Noguchi Institute for Medical Research would be the focal point of this initiative working in collaboration with the Legon and Pantang Hospitals.

Mr Edward Salia, Minister for Roads and Transport, appealed to all stakeholders to take good care of the port and ensure that old vessels are not permitted to sink in the harbour to pose danger to fishing.

Mrs Esther Lily Nkansah, the Western Regional Minister, in her welcoming address, said the people of Western region regard the fishing harbour project as yet another landmark in the efforts of the NDC government to revamp and stimulate the growth of the regional economy through the phased implementation of a carefully worked-out strategic plan for the development of the region.

This process, she said, commenced with the execution of some selected projects for the revamping of the regional economy.

These include the rehabilitation of the Western rail line, the Takoradi port itself, phased development of a network of strategic overland routes to open up the region's interior and improved links to other regions to facilitate evacuation of export commodities to the port.

Mrs Nkansah said additionally, the Aboadze Thermal Plant has been constructed and brought on stream to supplement power from Akosombo; the whole region is now looking forward to seeing additional power being generated through the utilisation of the gas deposits off-shore Half Assini. The telecommunication sector has seen equally exciting developments.