WAR ON PAIR TRAWLING (FRONT PAGE LEAD)

Some of the speedboats to be used by the Navy in the anti-pair trawling exercise.
The Western Naval Command and the Ghana Air Force have embarked on an operation to protect the fish stock in Ghana's territorial waters.

The move is to ensure that the country’s fishermen derive optimum benefit from her marine resources and halt the depletion of Ghana's fish stock by those engaged in pair trawling.

The exercise, code-named “Operation Stock Control” under the Anti-Pair Trawling Operations of the Ghana Armed Forces, will ensure policing activities that will deter and stop pair trawling activities in the country once and for all.

The programme is also intended to provide the much-needed relief for Ghanaian fishermen who have been subjected to severe harassment and considerable loss of income as a result of pair trawling.

Under “Operation stock control”, the Ghana Navy has been equipped with three speedboats to patrol the country’s territorial waters.
The Navy will be assisted by the Ghana Air Force, which will fly its aircraft to prompt the Navy to the activities of pair trawlers.

Defence Minister, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, who announced this at the launch of the Anti-Pair Trawling Operations in Sekondi, said the ministry was aware of the effect of pair trawling on fish stock.

“I must express regret here that it has taken this long to put in facilities to effectively check and stop pair trawling,” he said.

“Fortunately, as you can see, displayed today are three patrol boats and these boats will provide us with the capacity to check the pair trawling menace in the country’s territorial waters. From today “Operation Stock Control” will ensure that the trend is reversed,” he said.

He said pair trawling had a very negative effect on the country’s maritime domain and called on the stakeholders in the fishing industry to give their utmost support to ensure the success of the operation.

“The government is aware of the harm that pair trawling has caused to your legal fishing activities. I am also aware that you have lost considerable amounts of money because of the poor catches resulting from pair trawling,” he said.

Mr Kan-Dapaah added that the Defence Ministry would provide all the necessary logistics to motivate the task force to deliver satisfactorily.

He thanked the US government for providing the country with speedboats for the purpose.

For her part, Fisheries Minister, Mrs Gladys Asmah, said presently, the ministry needed the concerted efforts of all stakeholders to save the situation.

Officials of the two ministries, the fisheries sector and other dignitaries were later taken on a tour aboard the patrol boats.

Story by Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu

War On Pair Trawling • Navy, Air Force To Collaborate (Front Page Lead Story)

Story by Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu

The Western Naval Command and the Ghana Air Force have embarked on an operation to protect the fish stock in Ghana's territorial waters.

The move is to ensure that the country’s fishermen derive optimum benefit from her marine resources and halt the depletion of Ghana's fish stock by those engaged in pair trawling.

The exercise, code-named “Operation Stock Control” under the Anti-Pair Trawling Operations of the Ghana Armed Forces, will ensure policing activities that will deter and stop pair trawling activities in the country once and for all.

The programme is also intended to provide the much-needed relief for Ghanaian fishermen who have been subjected to severe harassment and considerable loss of income as a result of pair trawling.

Under “Operation stock control”, the Ghana Navy has been equipped with three speedboats to patrol the country’s territorial waters.
The Navy will be assisted by the Ghana Air Force, which will fly its aircraft to prompt the Navy to the activities of pair trawlers.

Defence Minister, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, who announced this at the launch of the Anti-Pair Trawling Operations in Sekondi, said the ministry was aware of the effect of pair trawling on fish stock.

“I must express regret here that it has taken this long to put in facilities to effectively check and stop pair trawling,” he said.

“Fortunately, as you can see, displayed today are three patrol boats and these boats will provide us with the capacity to check the pair trawling menace in the country’s territorial waters. From today “Operation Stock Control” will ensure that the trend is reversed,” he said.

He said pair trawling had a very negative effect on the country’s maritime domain and called on the stakeholders in the fishing industry to give their utmost support to ensure the success of the operation.

“The government is aware of the harm that pair trawling has caused to your legal fishing activities. I am also aware that you have lost considerable amounts of money because of the poor catches resulting from pair trawling,” he said.

Mr Kan-Dapaah added that the Defence Ministry would provide all the necessary logistics to motivate the task force to deliver satisfactorily.

He thanked the US government for providing the country with speedboats for the purpose.

For her part, Fisheries Minister, Mrs Gladys Asmah, said presently, the ministry needed the concerted efforts of all stakeholders to save the situation.

Officials of the two ministries, the fisheries sector and other dignitaries were later taken on a tour aboard the patrol boats.

Tragedy In Takoradi (Front Page Lead story)

Story by Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu
A six-month-old baby boy was burnt to death by a fire in a house at Effiakuma, a suburb of Takoradi, over the weekend while his mother was away attending to the call of nature.

The fire also destroyed property worth thousands of Ghana cedis.

Not even the cries of the five-year-old brother of the six-month-old baby was enough to save the situation.

Indeed, when the boy rushed out of the room crying, the co-tenants thought it was the result of punishment meted out to him by his mother.

When they realised that he was calling for help, it was too late to save the baby from the ragging fire.
Neighbours said they did not know the baby was in the room until his mother came back asking: “What about my baby? I left both of them in the room.”

Although officials of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) arrived early enough to fight the fire, they could not have access to the fire point as a result of the crowded nature of the community.

When the Daily Graphic got to the scene about 6.30 a.m., the firemen had managed to remove the roofing of the building to avoid an explosion, while other members of the community helped with buckets of water to put out the fire.
The only property left for the victim, Madam Limatu Sayid, were the blouse and the cover cloth she had on her when she left the house.

According to the grief-stricken Madam Limatu, she woke up about 5.45 a.m. to visit the community toilet and the baby started crying.

“I had wanted to send him to a neighbour, but after breastfeeding him, he slept again, with the elder brother lying beside him,” she said.

Madam Limatu said what was more painful was that on her way from the KVIP she saw the cloud of smoke, but little did she know that it was coming from her room and that the lives of her children were in danger.

“I have lost everything, including my baby,” she said, with tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

The remains of the baby will soon be released to the family for burial after the police have completed their investigations.

Other members of the community, co-tenants and elderly Muslim women took Madam Limatu to their home to console her.

According to officials of the GNFS, the cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Investigations are still ongoing.

SANITATION WORSENS IN SEKONDI/TAKORADI METROPOLIS (PAGE 69)

The inability of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) to pay waste management contractors for the waste they collect to the dumping sites is seriously affecting the clearance and disposal of garbage from the designated points.
The delay has currently resulted in unsightly heaps of garbage and overflowing containers at the markets throughout the metropolis.
Vehicles belonging to waste management contractors are said to have broken down and they need money to maintain them.
At the Takoradi Central Market, all the three huge containers placed in front of the Ghana Commercial Bank, U-84 and opposite the Takoradi offices of Ghana Textile Printing company are overflowing with garbage.
One of the interesting things is that despite the stench emanating from the heap of rubbish, hawkers display their wares and go about their business.
At the moment, the waste management contractors claim the delay in paying them for their services is having a negative effect on their business, since they have to maintain their trucks.
Although they would not disclose how much money the assembly owes them, they said the payment was too slow to support any result-oriented venture such as waste management.
Apart from the central market, there are other areas in the metropolis where the containers have been waiting for days to be lifted.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the assembly, the Public Relations Officer, Mr John Laste, acknowledged the problem and said there were processes the payment had to go through for the contractors to be paid.
The contractors first had to submit their claims to the assembly, which would also ensure that proper procedures had been followed before effecting payment and asked the waste contractors to bear with the assembly.
“I can say for a fact that waste management is one of our top priorities, and we would not compromise the health of the people for anything, but we also have serious social problems that hamper the dreams of the assembly,” he said.
“Take the Market Circle, Takoradi; houses around the market are supposed to use the door-to-door service, but before the market women commence business, the residents might have filled the containers with their household waste,” he lamented.
“I can assure you that if the people respected the laid-down regulations, things would be different; waste produced at the market would not fill the containers in a day”, he added.
That aside, Mr Laste said the amount residents were paying for their waste was pittance, which could not support the assembly. “It is too abysmal and even that they will not pay. Therefore, we find ourselves in a very difficult situation”.
He further explained that the assembly had to find a way out to ensure that the city was not engulfed in filth. “What the public forgets is that when we talk about waste management, they have a very important and prime role to play. The moment they assume that it is the duty of the assembly, then we are in trouble. But immediately residents recognise the problem and become part of the solution, there lies our redemption,” he said.
“That notwithstanding, we are doing everything possible to ensure that the city is the neatest in the country,” he said.
Mr Laste used the opportunity to warn residents around the Market Circle to desist from using the refuse containers meant for traders and appealed to the contractors not to neglect their duty, since they would be paid.