Tema Immigration registers 680 expatriate workers since January

The Tema Office of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has since January this year registered 680 expatriates working in various companies and industries in the municipality. The expatriates are mostly Koreans, Chinese, Germans and Dutch and are employed mainly in the fishing industry and factories.

Mr Michael Agblanya, Comptroller of Immigration told Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), who was paying a working visit to seven government departments and one organisation at Tema. The departments included the Electoral Commission (EC); Public Tribunals; National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE); National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO); City Guards Department; National Service Secretariat and the United Nations Volunteer Project.

Mr Agblanya said GIS had established an enforcement unit to check employers, who engage foreigners without authority to work in their companies, adding; "we have started to liaise with hoteliers to send us reports to enable us to monitor the activities of illegal immigrants. He appealed to the MCE to provide the Service with additional offices since the three rooms they were using could not adequately accommodate the 24 members of staff including three officers.

Mr Narh accompanied by Alhaji Ibrahim M. E. Fusseni, Municipal Co-ordinating Director, called on the members of the service to support the Police to flush out immigrants with suspicious character. At the Community Tribunal, Nana Agyeman Badu II, Tribunal Chairman pledged to co-operate to ensure that residents obeyed the by-laws of the assembly.

He requested for copies of the assembly by-laws, so that cases that were brought before the tribunal were dealt with according to the laws of the land. At the EC, Mrs Philomina Edusei, Municipal Electoral Officer told Mr Narh that the office was ready for the District Assembly and Unit Elections, saying interested persons had started collecting nomination forms.

She appealed to the Information Services Department to assist them with vans to enable them to carryout public education. Mr Narh urged them to take their public education seriously, so that women would be encouraged to participate actively in the assembly elections.