Over 200 wooden structures belonging to squatters in the environs of the Tema Canoe have been cleared to ensure a clean fishing area.
The area that serves as a drying place for anchovies has, over the years, been taken over by squatters who are using the place as a residence, leading to the indiscriminate disposal of waste and open defecation in the area, potentially contaminating the fish being dried there.
Nii Odametey, the Chief Fisherman of Tema Awudum, said the exercise was jointly organised by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), the Ghana Navy, and the Tema Traditional Council.
He said the filth at the fish drying place was too much and needed to be cleared, adding that they wanted to learn from the best practices where fishing areas are cleaned and well organised.
He said no one allocated the place for the squatters to erect such wooden structures, noting that most of them who sell at the place started storing their items in the kiosks and subsequently started residing there.
He gave the assurance that the exercise would be extended to the nearby ‘Five Beach’ to make the place neat and attract tourists to the area.
Meanwhile, some of the squatters were seen packing their belongings from the structures, while some of the structures were being pulled down, and others were being carried away from the place.
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