The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communications Officer for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Constituency in the Central Region, Obed Aduko has called on President Nana Addo to consider adding former president, John Dramani Mahama's Fish Processing Plant to his recently commissioned Elmina Fishing Harbour which are just a wall adrift.

According to him, a country that battles with the depreciation of its currency and imports almost all its needs, must start thinking of adding value to its raw materials to balance its trade to remain sustainable, else it is headed for a ditch.

He said the former president envisioned the need to have the first ever fish processing plant to process fish for export to rake in foreign exchange to cushion the country's currency against other trading currencies and also to add value to the fishing sector to enhance the living standards of citizens that find their daily bread within the sector.

The Elmina fish processing plant, commissioned seven (7) years ago on November 29, 2016 comes with an office complex, a storage facility, auction/market area, a daycare centre, and a processing area with the vision of adding value to the fishing industry which has been operating on primary production since creation. 

However, a change in government in 2017 saw the magnanimous project convert into an ice block plant, where only ice blocks are produced for fishermen to purchase.

"President Nana Addo recently came to commission the Elmina Fishing Harbour of which I went there to have a first hand knowledge about the facility as a good citizen. But the first thing that caught my attention was the wall between the fish processing plant and the fishing harbour."

"I further toured the area to notice that facilities provided were offices, sheds, auction hall and a landing area which got me sad as Ghana has repeated the same old age problem associated with the establishment of the Sam Bosumtwi Fishing Port at Sekondi which concentrated solely on primary production in the 90's of which every country presently is shying away from."

"I'm appealing to the conscience of the President and his cabinet to integrate the fish processing plant into the newly commissioned fishing harbour to help add value to our fishing industry to also provide seed capital to enable the facility managers purchase fishes across the coastal communities to fight trawlers causing mayhem to the fishing industry on our seas."

"A functional fish processing plant will decrease the uneasiness fisherfolks and the industry during close season," Obed Aduko noted.

Source: Sompaonline.com/Eric Annan