Tema, April 1, GNA - The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has inaugurate= d a nine-member Committee to plan and oversee the dredging of the Chemu Lagoo= n that is estimated to cost two million dollars. The ad hoc Committee, which has a six-month mandate, has been tasked wit= h the responsibility of mobilizing human and financial resources to underta= ke the project to forestall the perennial flooding experienced annually. Mr Robert Kempes Ofosuware, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, inaugurated the Committee and said the lagoon, which used to be a source of livelihood for the residents of Tema Manhean, had become dead because it has lost its aquatic life.

Mr Ofosuware said the pollution and death of the lagoon was as a result of untreated effluents discharged into it by industries in the area, includi= ng the Tema Oil Refinery. He said people residing in the catchments area of the lagoon had also turned it into a refuse dump. Mr Ofosuware said even though the Assembly's revenue was not enough for the restoration programme and other projects, "my office cannot sit unconcern= ed and allow life and property to be lost during heavy downpour" and appeale= d to the Committee to primarily tackle the flooding problem. The Committee is headed by the Tema Manhean Sub-Metro Chairman, Mr Enoch=

Mensah. Mr Ofosuware, on behalf of the Assembly and the government, also donated=

GH¢500 and two bags of rice to the Tema Zabrama Community, towards the funeral ceremony of their late Chief Imam Azumah Omaru. Alhaji Karimu Haruna, Chief of the Tema Zabrama Community who received t= he money and the items, thanked the Assembly for the donation.