Government has earmarked a total of $235 million for the construction of 10 Coastal fishing and landing sites to transform communities in those areas.

These projects which will be situated in selected coastal localities is expected to begin following parliament approval.

The approval follows a recent Cabinet approval of the commercial and financial agreement for these projects and a recommendation from Cabinet to Parliament for consideration and approval by Parliament.

Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah who disclosed this at yesterday’s press briefing, indicated that “the government’s vision to transform Ghana’s fishing industry is clearly stated in the NPP’s 2016 manifesto, under Agriculture and Rural Development, on pages 18 and 19 and includes a key pillar that says “Top of the agenda for fisheries will be the programme of building landing sites and storage facilities”.

The ten identified sites where the landing sites and related facilities will be constructed include Teshie in the Greater Accra region, Axim and Dixcove in the Western Region and Keta in the Volta Region.

The rest are Elmina, Winneba, Mumford, Senya-Bereku, Fetteh- Gomoa and Moree, all in the Central region.


Benefits

The Information Minister said “the development of the fish landing sites and ports is aimed at ensuring safe guard launching and landing of particularly, artisanal fishing and canoes.

“It is also aimed at creating and maintaining a hygienic environment for the processing and handling of fish while preventing and minimising post harvest losses and adding value to the fish caught by artisanal fishermen”.

Mr Nkrumah also revealed that the completion of the project was expected to increase export volumes and directly increase the foreign exchange earnings of the country.

He reiterated that the fisheries sector plays a major role in the Ghanaian national economy.

It contributes to 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and also has significant indirect contributions to the economy.

These include employment opportunities for marine fishermen, boat-yards workers, suppliers of auxiliary goods, services etc and exporting of the fish products to earn foreign exchange for the country.