President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday announced that government through the Micro-Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) would provide one thousand outboard fishing motors and smoking equipment to fisher folks in five regions.

The regions are Greater Accra, Central, Western, Volta and Eastern, and 200 persons each from the areas would benefit from the support.

President Mahama announced this when he embarked on his second day tour of the Greater Accra region, to thank the people for contributing towards the final funeral rites of late President John Evans Atta Mills.

The President and his entourage on their first day of the tour, visited Prampram, Dawenya, Ashaiaman, Nungua, Teshie, and climaxed it with a grand durbar of chiefs and people of the region, at the La Trade Fair Centre.

The second day tour, which started at Chorkor, would continue to James Town, Nima, Maamobi, Mallam Atta, Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie and Madina, where he would address fisher folks and market women.

President Mahama said the outboard fishing motors and the smoking equipment would be provided on hire purchase basis this month, and appealed to beneficiaries to take advantage of the facility to step up their businesses.

He said the provision of the equipment formed part of the “Better Ghana Agenda” initiated by late President Mills, and promised that would continue with all projects that were initiated by the late President.

President Mahama cautioned the fisher folk against engaging in acts of violence and other negative activities that could derail development that government was littering throughout the country.

Mr. Mustapha Abubakari, Public Relations Officer of MASLOC, told the Ghana News Agency that the beneficiaries of the outboard fishing motors package, would be made to pay for the facility for some years.

He gave the assurance that MASLOC could extend the facility to more fisher folks, depending on the performance of the initial beneficiaries.