Japanese govt supports fishing harbour expansion project
Expansion works have started on the Albert Bosumtwe-Sam Fishing Harbour in Sekondi in the Western Region.
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The Japanese government has provided $17 million towards the expansion works which involves additional plant building, administration offices, water supply facility, pavement of the area behind the fishing handling shed and access drive way with canoe berthing facility.
The project, which is being executed by ECOH Corporation of Japan, will provide jobs to about 1, 200 people in Sekondi and its environs while food vendors will also have the opportunity to increase their incomes. It is expected to be completed in December 2017.
Stakeholders’ meeting
This came to light at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Western Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC).
The board chairman of the GPHA, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, who announced this at the meeting, explained that the project was a social intervention by the government to support the fishing community in Sekondi.
He, therefore, urged the people to embrace it and offer the needed co-operation to the contractors, saying, ‘‘Take it as yours and contribute your quota towards its successful completion.’’
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the people would not be levied as the Japanese government had borne the entire project sum, and that their only responsibility was to provide the necessary support during the construction process.
Bottlenecks
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, urged the people to use appropriate channels to resolve any misunderstanding that might arise during the construction.
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‘‘Do not frustrate the workers since such attitudes could delay or stall the execution of the project. Let us be disciplined so that the project will succeed,’’ he pleaded.
The Director General of the GPHA, Mr Richard Anamoo, explained that the project ought to have been completed a couple of years ago but for the outbreak of the Ebola disease, adding, ‘‘We are running against time so give way and co-operate with us to beat the time”.
He also advised that if there was anything the people did not understand, they should go through the normal procedure and the harbour authorities would respond appropriately to address it but not to resort to violence.