May 29, 2018
China to construct 50 million USD fishing port in Jamestown
Ghana and China have signed an exchange of notes agreement for the construction of a $50 million Jamestown fishing port complex. The project is expected to begin this year and when completed will enhance the productivity of fisher folks and create 1,000 job opportunities for the youth in the community.
A $16 million bilateral agreement was also signed for the implementation of projects including the phase two of the University of Health and Allied Sciences project. The construction of the Jamestown fishing complex is expected to be carried out in three phases.
These are dredging of about 118,000 cubic meters harbour basin and shipping channels, construction of hydraulic structures composed of berths of about 1,200 meters, seawall and a break water and the construction of administration, production and supporting facilities including kindergarten, fish market and a processing area.
At the signing ceremony in Accra, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta signed on behalf of Ghana and China’s Ambassador to Ghana, Sun Baohong signed for China.
According to the Finance Minister, government is committed to ensuring that the necessary structures are put in place to propel economic growth as well as pursue the ‘Ghana beyond Aid’ agenda.
“There are four pillars underpinning the new paradigm of Ghana Beyond Aid. “The pillars include revenue or domestic resource mobilization, expenditure management, finance management and creation of opportunities which require further resources.
“Currently government has enacted policies and designed a set of programmes that are being rolled out in the area of revenue mobilization and similar actions are being taken on the other pillars” he stated.
Sun Baohong stated that the two countries have enjoyed very fruitful bilateral relations for decades, given that, this agreement will lead to new chapters of cooperation in trade and development.
She indicated that the value of trade between Ghana and China has reached $ 6.7 billion; ranking Ghana sixth among China’s trading partners in African.
“China is Ghana’s largest trading partner and what is worth noting is that Ghana’s export to China surpassed $1.85 billion and registered an increase of over 41 percent,” she said.
She further indicated that China’s financial investment in Ghana reached $123 million last year and has invested in 25 projects, noting that the number of projects ranked top among all the foreign investment countries.
The ambassador announced that China 80 satellite TV project to 300 Ghanaian villages would be implemented in May while the James Town Fishing Port Complex would kick off within this year.
“We are doing feasibility studies on the phase two of University of Health and Allied Sciences now and we are going to do the feasibility for Cocoa Processing Project in Sefwi Juaboso, and we have begun the implementation of donation of police vehicles and equipment,” she added.
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, who witnessed the exchange of notes, expressed appreciation to the Chinese government for the support.
She pledged her ministry’s preparedness to provide assistance where necessary to ensure the successful completion of the project.