'Ghana not leveraging plentiful God-given water sources' — Organised Labour welcomes Cheddar's sea dredging ambition

Organised Labour has said Ghana is blessed with many water sources that could be leveraged for industrial and heavy-duty transportation purposes.

Clarifying a promise by independent presidential aspirant Nana Bediako (Cheddar) founder of the New Force, to dredge the sea to Kumasi for such purposes, Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, at a meeting with the aspirant, said: "If you look at the river systems, when you dredge the Pra, Tano, Bia and the rest, it easily links to Cape Coast. And his [Cheddar] point was that why should we use our roads to cart things?"

"We can actually use our river systems, once we dredge properly, the vessels can use it, and they can transport it from Accra to the North", Dr Baah explained.

He added: “God has given us a huge river that we are not using because many people don’t really understand that policy.”

In March this year, the New Force leader outlined his ambitious vision for the Ashanti Region during a radio interview.

Also referred to as Freedom Jacob Caesar, the business magnate aims to open Ghana’s Eastern and Western Corridors to facilitate trade.

He told Kojo Marfo on Abusua Nkomo on Abusua 96.5 FM in Kumasi that his sea-dredging vision was inspired by other countries who have built maritime transport routes inland which are serving their transportation needs.

He cited Dubai's transformation from a desert to having access to the sea as an example.

Mr Bediako envisions dredging the sea to the Ashanti Region, enabling ships to dock in Kumasi.

“I have travelled far and wide”, he intimated, noting: “I have seen many countries do that”, citing: “Even Dubai, which was a typical desert, now has the sea”.

“That is the kind of vision I have for the Ashanti Region. When we dredge the sea to the region, ships can dock in Kumasi,” he said.

Questioning the efficiency of transporting goods by road, Mr Bediako highlighted the potential of sea transport to expedite import and export processes for the region.

He advocated the development of infrastructure, including rail and sea routes, to enhance trade efficiency.

“We are in the year 2024. This is not a time for people to be driving containers one by one from the Tema Harbour to Kumasi over a six-hour journey; by the time one container gets here, half of its content is either broken or gone bad. If you had the rails or sea, in one hour, 500 containers would be here. You can also ship out 500 containers in the same fashion”, he demonstrated, outlining: “I want to open up the Eastern and Western Corridor infrastructure, I want to build power stations, energy stations. I want to connect the gas. I want to create industries and bring technology”.

Furthermore, Mr Bediako called for a shift towards value addition and local manufacturing, urging Ghana to harness its resources for producing electronic gadgets and other goods.

He emphasised the importance of industrialisation and cited his experience in establishing an industrial park named Petronia.

-Classfmonline