FISHERMEN, FISHMONGERS PROTEST IN TEMA (PAGE 30, FEB 16, 2010)

Fishermen and fish mongers in Tema on Sunday took to the streets to protest against the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) for selling a parcel of land at the fishing harbour to a private investor.
According to the demonstrators who were clad in red and black, the land served as a fish market and also used by the fishermen as a place for mending their nets and canoes.
The fishermen, who claimed ownership of the land, alleged that GPHA had requested to take it over to lay blocks for the expansion of its activities, but after the completion of the block works, it refused to return the land to the fishermen and now intended selling it to Malaysians.
According to them the action sought to displace operators of more than 200 canoes at the Tema canoe beach and other people involved in the fishing business .
The demonstration ended with a press conference at which the fishermen and fishmongers were joined by an NGO–Corporate Social Responsibility Movement (CRSM)- to reaffirm their opposition to the transaction.
At the press conference, the fisherfolks claimed that the land had been a heritage passed on to them by their forefathers and pledged to resist any attempt by the GPHA to sell it.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the GPHA, the Public Affairs Manager for the Tema Port, Mrs Esther Donkor, confirmed the transaction but denied that the parcel of land in question belonged to the fishermen.
She explained that according to the acquisition Act which instituted the port in the late 1950s , all lands in the port area belonged to the GPHA, hence its initial name ‘Port Authority’.
Mrs Donkor said the GPHA had the duty to ensure that its clients involved in shipping business were given a place to operate from.
She said a company involved in the export of palm oil had contacted the GPHA for a place to locate its offices and warehouse to make shipment regular and were therefore granted the land which the fishermen are laying claim to.
Mrs Donkor was surprised that the fishermen were in red bands against the GPHA because a meeting was held between the Authority and the leadership of the fishermen to inform them and enable them to prepare to leave the land .
She said fishermen would be invited again to ensure that they understood the situation and ‘desist from claiming the land which legally did not belong to them’ .
The Executive Secretary of the CRSM, Mr Richster Nii Armarh Amarfio, who also addressed the press conference, said the sale of the parcel of land would lead to loss of livelihood for the people.
He stated that the people of Tema Manhean had already suffered as a result of their resettlement from the old site to the new town.
He said the Tema Manhean beach received huge numbers of migrant fishermen from all over the coastal line of Ghana stretching from Axim to Aflao, especially during the major seasons.