THE newly-constructed Jamestown Fishing Harbour at Jamestown in the Greater Accra Region was last Friday inaugurated in Accra amidst pomp and pageantry by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The highly ecstatic crowd drawn mainly from Ga Mashie who were visiting the new facility for the first time since the commencement of the project some five years ago, could not hide their joy when the President cut the tape to signify the official opening of the harbour.
Amid drumming and dancing the large crowd that trooped to the venue could be seen moving up and down from one location of the facility to the other in an excursion tour of the new edifice.
Apart from the large army of locals present at the inauguration ceremony were a large retinue of chiefs and traditional priests including the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsru II, the Paramount Chief of Nungua and acting President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, Oboade Notse Odaifio Welentsi III, the Sempe Mantse, Nii Adotey Otinto, Nai Wulomo and Sakumo Wulomo.
Also present were ministers of state and high profile personalities and political figures including, the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo; the wife of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) running mate, Mrs Alma Opoku Prempeh and the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Tong Defa.
Other personalities present were the Ministers of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah; Minister of the Interior, Henry Quartey; Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful; Greater Accra Regional Minister, Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover and the Mayor of Accra, Elizabeth Naa Kwatsoe Tawiah Sackey.
The scope of work included, dredging, breakwater construction, berthing facilities, navigational aids, paved roads and yard, water supply and drainage works, electrical engineering works, mechanical equipment and corrosion prevention systems.
Apart from being a state of the art facility, the harbour has an administration and office building, shops, a fish market, ice-making plant with a capacity of 60 tonnes per day, a cold storage facility with a capacity of 200 tonnes, an engine repair workshop, ship repair workshop, an hydraulic structure engineering facility, a kindergarten, an entrance guard, sewage treatment room, police and fire protection station.
Inaugurating the facility, President Akufo-Addo said it was a project of considerable national importance requiring considerable collaboration among all stakeholders to ensure it served its purpose.
He said “These are not just buildings; there are investments in the future of this community. Take, for instance, the inclusion of daycare centres designed to allow our hardworking mothers to trade with a peace of mind, knowing that their children are safe.”
President Akufo-Addo said the new harbour apart from transforming the fisheries sector would create jobs, empower the domestic economy, and revitalise the lives of the faithful traders of Jamestown and its immediate environs.
The Ga Mantse on his part expressed his profound gratitude to the President and his government on behalf of the people of Jamestown and Ga Mashie as a whole for making the modernisation of the Jamestown Fishing Harbour a reality.
He said for years the desire of the people was to have such a modern facility to improve their fishing activities and their livelihoods.
Nii Teiko Tsuru said the facility was not just an edifice but an expression of the government’s commitment to the progress and development of the people of Accra.
The Chinese Ambassador said the Jamestown Fishing Harbour project showed China’s commitment to strengthen bilateral ties with Ghana for socio-economic development.
Work commenced on the Jamestown Fishing Harbour in 2018 through the collaborative efforts of a number of stakeholders, made of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), CRCC Harbour and Channel Engineering Bureau Group Co. Ltd, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), with funding from the People’s Republic of China.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
