Axim (WR), Nov. 05, GNA – The management and Board of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) have visited five communities in Nzemaland affected by sargassum seaweeds.
Led by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr Frederick Worsemao Blay, and the Executive Director of the GNPC Foundation, Dr Dominic Eduah the team visited Axim, Asanta, Ankobra, Esiama, and Eikwe within the Nzema East Municipality and Ellembelle District in the Western Region.
The Nzema-East Municipal Chief Executive, Madam Elizabeth Dorcas Amoah, and the District Chief Executive for Ellembelle, Mr Kwesi Bonzo, joined in inspecting the shorelines and were alarmed at the rate at which the seaweeds had washed ashore and the resulting implications on the livelihoods of the people in the area.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors for the GNPC told reporters that the fact-finding mission on the invasion of seaweeds along the Western Coast of Ghana was to engage affected communities and help find a lasting solution to the issue which was becoming a threat to both fishing activities and the local economy.
Mr Blay called on oil companies and other stakeholders to take immediate steps to relieve the suffering of the fishermen and their families.
He said, “What we have seen today is alarming, and we cannot ignore the negative impact it will continue to have on people living in these communities if urgent steps are not taken to find solutions.”
He, however, debunked wide speculations of the existence of a causal relationship between oil exploratory activities and the emergence of the seaweeds along the coast.
Mr Blay assured that measures would be devised to help address the problem to bring some relief to the people, and called on others to lend their support.
The Executive Director of the GNPC Foundation, Dr Eduah, reiterated the need for a swift response, saying, “This is a serious environmental problem which has affected the fishing value-chain for the past two months, and we cannot allow it to cause further agitation in these communities.
He said the GNPC Foundation was committed to supporting relief efforts so that people could have access to the sea to resume their fishing activities.
GNA