SHORELINE PROJECT IMPROVES BEACHES (PAGE 28)

Story: Rose Hayford Darko, Tema

THE Ghana Shoreline Beautification Project has entered its third year since it was initiated in May 2006 to cleanse the beaches, erect structures and facilities, educate and build the capacity of fishermen to boost tourism.
The canoe beach at Tema, which is the starting point of the project, is gradually being transformed into a tourist site with clean sand structures yet to be roofed and signposts indicating the purpose of the project.
Some youth from the Tema community have volunteered to ensure that the fishermen are involved in the project through capacity building to appreciate the negative effects of polluting of the beaches has on marine and human life.
The Tema Mantse, Nii Adjei Krakue II, who initiated the project, has in line with its objectives earmarked GH¢6,000 for this year, noting that the project has included the youth at the community level to provide day-to-day service to remedy the sanitation problems at the beaches.
He also presented wheelbarrows, rakes and rubbish bins to the volunteers of the Friends of the Sea Beaches and Inland Waters Ghana (FRISBIW), to enable them to face the challenges of cleaning up the beaches.
Nii Krakue, who is the Board Chairman of the FRISBIW, said at Tema that the project, which would cover the coastal stretch from Alfa to Axim, started from Tema in May 2006 with the launch.
He said the main objective of the project was to stop all defecation and dumping of refuse along the beaches within a five-year period from 2006 to 2011.
Nii Krakue observed that because of financing, the project has dragged on for sometime but hoped that it would pick up as the fishermen in Tema were showing interest and had become very supportive.
He called for effective collaboration between the government and traditional authorities for the successful realisation of the vision of the initiator.
Nii Krakue appealed for commitment among the people and the volunteers to enable them to achieve the set goals for promotion of tourism on the shorelines.
He said he had adopted new strategies by penetrating the ranks of the youth with the formation of environmental fan clubs in schools to transfer the knowledge of environmental cleanliness to them at that level.
Nii Krakue noted that it was very important to keep beaches clean, since apart from tourism, they could offer a healthy atmosphere for human beings. He was hopeful that the 2009 national regatta would be held in Tema and be an occasion to showcase the beauty of the beach.
The Caretaker of the Tema beach, Mr Adjei Adjetey, who is a member of FRISBIW, said the major source of disposal of refuse into the sea was the Chemu Lagoon outlet where industrial waste passed especially when it rained.
He observed that the fishermen had been very helpful in recent times and therefore appealed to them to enhance the beautification process by reducing refuse generated at the beaches and on sea.
Nii Adjetey commented on dumping the remains of wrecked ships on the shores and indicated the difficulties encountered by visitors and those who expressed interest in swiming at the Tema Beach.
He, however, noted that volunteers had guarded those who went there to prevent disasters.
Mr Adjetey said towards December when the sea usually drew back, the volunteers had organised themselves to cut the steel remains under the sea and hoped that before the end of the five-year period, they would have removed all the wrecks.
He was optimistic that through the hard work of the volunteers, the objectives would be achieved.
Mr Adjetey said the organisation envisages a vision where the communities along the beaches in Ghana would be proactive in solving sanitation problems and local fishermen would engage in fishing in safe working conditions.