Parliament Today - Tuesday, December 3, 2002

Fishermen from the Central and Western Region have appealed to the Agricultural, Food and Cocoa Affairs Select Committee of Parliament to help enforce existing laws governing fishing along the territorial waters of Ghana.

According to the fishermen trawlers at night have been coming in shore to haul fish, in the process leaving nothing for them to catch the next day. They said they had petitioned government on several occasions but to no avail, they expressed particular concern at the way industrial vessels were overexploiting our territorial waters by transhipping their catch.

Recently Parliament passed a law prohibiting the practice of catching, processing and transporting the catch to the host country to which the activity is being conducted.

They called on government to come to their aid as this practice is steadily taking them out of business. The first Deputy Speaker Hon. Freddie Blay, MP for Ellembelle who chaired the function called on the fishermen to be law abiding as any other action would complicate the whole issue.

Hon. Korankye MP for Asante Akim South, Chairman for the Agricultural, Food and Cocoa Affairs Select Committee, appealed to all stakeholders of the industry to rally and help stop the illegal activities of the industrial vessels; as the law governing fishing in Ghana’s territorial waters, Act 635, was done in consultation with all stakeholders.

Hon. Asiedu Nketiah MP for Wenchi West and ranking member for Food and Agriculture suggested that the Community based fisheries management committees be actively involved in patrolling Ghana’s territorial waters, as that was the reason why they were formed.

Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni, MP for Kumbugu made a statement on “the plight of persons with disabilities and its implications for national development and democracy” This was to commemorate the International Day for the disabled.

Alhaji Mumuni called on government to urgently adopt pragmatic policies and implementation strategies to rescue the disabled from extreme poverty. In view of this he appealed to parliament to enact the National Disability Act, which he said would be in compliance with Article 29(8) of the Constitution in realizing the objectives of the National Disability Policy.

Hon Abraham Ossei Aidooh, MP for Tema West also made a statement to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Tema Development Corporation.

He referred to Tema as an industrial hub of Ghana, attributing this to the presence of the Tema harbour, its unique landscape and proximity to Akosombo dam.

He however regretted that after fifty years, Tema has lost some if its attraction and lost some its industries, especially in textile industry. The rail line he regretted does not exist anymore, the dry-dock is a pale shadow of what it used to be and that the maritime industry is now largely redundant.

On environmental issues he referred to Chemu lagoon as a sorry sight needing $4 million to restore. He regretted that water to the emerging communities, is most irregular even as flooding in these areas have become a regular phenomenon. This is in sharp contrast to the status of Tema, which claims to be one of the best-planned cities in Africa.

Contributions from the floor hoped that the project to construct a “World Center Village” would attract the investors. Members of Parliament however advised that the infrastructure of Tema should be improved to cater for envisaged influx of tourist.

The House approved a loan of Euro 12,782,297 between the Republic of Ghana and the German Bank for Reconstruction to support the rehabilitation of the Sogakope-Akatsi Road.

The Minister for Roads and Transport Dr. Richard Anane, assured the house that the road would be of international standard.