Don’t operate near Karpower Ship : Tema fishermen cautioned
The Director General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Mr Richard Anamoo, has cautioned fishermen operating at the Tema Fishing Harbour not to get close to the Karpower Ship, a power barge situated within the harbour.
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He has also appealed to the Tema Traditional Council (TTC) to sensitise artisanal fishermen not to carry out any repair or welding of fishing boats near the facility.
“Activities such as oil spillage around the vessel and repair works could spell disaster for the port and the country as a whole should they cause fire in the process”, Mr Anamoo said.
He was speaking when the board of directors and management of the GPHA paid a courtesy call on the Tema Mantse, Nii Adjei Krakue I, at his palace at Manhean last Tuesday.
Repair of broken-down vessels near the power barge, Mr Anamoo said, could cause explosion and result in fire.
“Should an explosion occur near the badge as a result of activities of small-scale fishermen, the casualties could be catastrophic, and as well harm the environment”, Mr Anamoo warned.
New terminal
Mr Anamoo used the occasion to also announce that the newly constructed refrigerated terminal with the capacity to hold 800 20-footer equivalent unit (TEU) containers had become operational.
The new facility replaces the old one which did not have adequate holding space for refrigerated imports.
Mr Anamoo said the new terminal, located outside the main port, was a one-stop terminal for all refrigerated imported goods such as frozen foods and essential medicines.
The terminal, which is part of a $2.5 million investment the authority was pumping into the 2020 Port redevelopment project, had been fully automated to hasten processes and make them efficient for port users.
Heavy Cargo
Mr Anamoo also hinted that the GPHA had invested heavily into machinery to enable the port to lift and discharge very heavy cargoes.
“We recently discharged a milling shell with 156 tonnage and a power generating plant of 288 tonnage capacity when none other agency operating in the port was able to do so and this speaks volumes of the port’s capacity to lift such cargoes.
The Chairman of the GPHA’s board, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, for his part, indicated that the expansion project would create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs for the teeming youth in the Tema Metropolis.
He also appealed to the Tema Traditional Council to make the education of young people a priority for them to develop the capacity to benefit from the numerous opportunities that exist in the port.
The Stool coordinator of the traditional council, Mr Seth Ago Adjetey, expressed the council’s appreciation to the GPHA for its continuous support over the years.
He called on the authority to institute an educational fund to be dedicated to educating brilliant children from the community to help them to develop the expertise to work in the port environment.
The Karpower Ship, which docked at the fishing harbour on November 28, 2015, is generating 235 megawatts (mw) of electricity into the national grid.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
