An appeal has been made to the government to set up a “Pre-mix Fuel Price Stabilization Fund” to absorb the fluctuations in the prices of the pre-mix fuel and thereby lessen the plight of fishermen.
Instead of frequent reviews which is characteristic of the industry, the government has also been asked to review the prices of the pre-mix fuel once every year with the participation of all stakeholders, under the auspices of a proposed fisheries industry board.
The appeal was made by Mr. Kodwo Ahlijah, President of the Anomabu Union who made the appeal at a ceremony in Accra on Saturday to inaugurate the union, and also to raise funds towards the renovation and conversion of classrooms into computer centres for Anomabu Junior High Schools and to build a 100-seater ICT and library complex for all basic schools within the Anomabu Traditional Area.
He said the appeal became necessary because of the high cost of the fuel as against the low catches of the fishermen.
Mr Ahlijah said the government must urgently suspend all fishing licenses of foreign firms for a year and conduct a full cost-benefit analysis of the operations of such firms to determine whether or not their operations were beneficial to the country.
He said this would lead to an end to the depletion of the fish stock of the country's exclusive continental fishing zone and thereby offer the local fishermen once again the opportunity to enjoy and profit from their businesses.
The concerns of the President of the Anomabu Union were not limited to the fisheries industry alone as he delved into farming, saying the Anomabu area which was also well noted for the production of citrus was losing this status because of lack of support.
He called on the government to set up a Citrus Industry Board to handle the processing, storage and marketing of the citrus produce to encourage the farmers to produce the required tonnage to serve the demands of the people.
On education, lack of computers and other facilities were said to be responsible for poor academic performance of the students.
Last year, out of the 360 candidates from 14 junior high schools within the traditional area who sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination, only 141 candidates representing 39 percent passed but with weak aggregates.
On health, the area boasts of only one health centre with inadequate staff and it caters for the over 30,000 residents with a huge daily outpatient attendance.
According to Mr Ahlijah, those were the underlying reasons for which the Union was formed and with the support of the government, the Union would work hard to reverse the trend.
He called on well-wishers to donate to the Union to help it implement its agenda.
Meanwhile, Mr. Yu Wenzhe, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, who participated in the ceremony donated four computers, four printers and 10 footballs to the Union for schools in the area.
Mr Wenzhe said children were the future and hope of nations and investment must be made in them for the benefit of the country in future.
He pledged his country's continued commitment to supporting education initiatives in Ghana.
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