Ban on Tilapia import will boost local production

Ghana’s outright ban on the importation of Tilapia is a laudable step by the NDC administration towards the building of a better local economy, since the move will spur growth in the local budding aquaculture sector.

Countries all over are instituting stringent import measures to first of all protect their citizens from consuming products of sub-standard quality regardless of where it’s coming from, and secondly to protect their local industries, so it is incumbent on us a country to accept this move as a step to a better Ghana.

The economic problems we are facing as a country can partly be attributed to our taste for foreign products. Our markets are flooded with considerable quantities of meat and meat products when the country has a competitive advantage in producing the best of these products at a very reasonable price.

According to Madam Sherry Ayitey, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, who announced this in Tema, the ban would create about 50,000 jobs in the aquaculture sector of the economy, where young unemployed persons are being targeted.

The Republic believes that this move by the NDC administration will help boost the local Tilapia industry, which will undoubtedly reflect positively on the local economy.

It behoves on us consumers and Ghanaians to kill our taste for foreign products some of which enters into the country with a lot of health implications to human life. We should also endeavour to play our roles in this fight by looking out for sub-standard products and reporting to the appropriate authorities those found to be injurious to human health.

The Republic is therefore calling on authorities like the Ghana Standard Board, Food and Drugs Authority, Customs Excise and Preventive Service and Environmental Protection Agency to be vigilant in our ports and borders for the safety of the health of the people of Ghana.

The Republic Newspaper hopes that the NDC administration will not renege on its quest to institute austere regulatory import measures on the importation of consumables that has a direct effect on human health.

The Republic will also call on the youth to embrace this opportunity by venturing into the Tilapia business since the sector is a very lucrative one and has better prospects.