MALAYSIANS TAKE OVER TEMA BEACH

*For palm oil project
*25,000 fisher-folks jobless

The Canoe Owners Association of Tema and fishermen in the Tema metropolis are at hot red arms with the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) over a Malaysian palm oil project in Tema Newtown.

The enraged canoe owners and fisher folks have revealed that the project when completed will render more than 25,000 fisher-folks, including other inhabitants of the area jobless since the livelihood of the indigenes in Tema Newtown is dependent heavily on fishing activities.

According to them, not only will the project render many unemployed, but also displace over 10,000 fishermen at the Tema Newtown canoe landing site and the number 5 beach respectively.

Checks by Today revealed that both the GPHA and the Malaysians have not presented any Environmental Impact Assessment Report on the project which is a key requirement for such ventures.

If all goes according to plan, the Malaysians will build palm oil silos which will be connected to pipelines under the sea for offshore loading into waiting ships in Tema.

Speaking in an interview with Today at Tema Newtown, the General Secretary of the Canoe Owners Association, Mr Adjetey Tawiah, indicated that they were not against the GPHA’s intention to help establish palm oil silos and farms in the area, but locating it at the number 5 beach and the adjoining parcel of land will impact negatively on the livelihoods of the inhabitants.

“The number 5 beach, the canoe landing site and the adjoining parcel of land over here in Tema Newtown are where we the local canoe fishermen dry and mend our nets as well as repair our canoes.

…This same parcel of land serves as market and a platform for fish processing by our women in drying, salting and smoking Anchovies popularly called ‘one-mouth-thousand or Keta school boys’ in the community and currently employs over 5,000 women in Tema Newtown. It is estimated that 65% of these Anchovies processed in Ghana come from this parcel of land,” explained Mr Tawiah.

He noted that the Anchovies from Tema Newtown have found their way into various soups and stews, not only in Ghana but also in Togo, Benin and other neighbouring countries.

This, he pointed out, has been the situation for decades now and had been a major boost in the local economy particularly, Tema Manhean and other coastal fishing towns in general, which are driven by the fishing fortunes and activities.

“The adjoining 5 beach, which is just about 80 metres long, is the only swimmable beach for the entire community and hosts a shrine where annual rituals are performed as a precursor for the annual Homowo festival.

…It also hosts a museum of the bones of giant whales that landed at the seashore decades ago which serves as a tourist museum for research purposes,” Mr Tawiah told Today.

He said the fisher folks have plans to construct a pre-school on part of the said land to ensure that parents especially, porters have their children enrolled in school whilst they eke a living; so the GPHA-Malaysian palm oil project will bring nothing but economic hardships that will make life more unbearable for the inhabitants.

For his part, Mr Richster Nii Armah Armafio, the Executive Secretary of the Corporate Social Responsibility Movement Ghana (CSRM), a non-governmental organization championing the cause of fisher folks, decried the situation.

“Clearly, ceding this parcel of land to the Malaysian interest will lead to the loss of human capital that is local fishing knowledge and skills, the capacity to do genuine work and to adapt to the environment, the opportunity to give basic education to the children of working mothers,” he stressed.

He argued that when it comes to projects like these, there is the possibility that palm oil may be spilled into the sea and end up polluting the environment.

“There is also a possible sea and land use conflict as access to the sea and land resource which could generate conflicts between the fisher folks, swimmers and the Malaysians,” observed Mr Armah Armafio.