CCMA Mayor plans to Establish Fish Processing Factory in Cape Coast
Story: GEORGINA APPIAH
The Mayor of Cape Coast, George Justice Arthur, has assured the people of Cape Coast of his plans to establish a fish processing factory along the Coast to enhance fishing in the metropolis.
According to him, fishing plays an important economic role in the lives of the residents of the city.
“However, the sector is poorly developed for the fisherfolk to fully derive the maximum benefits from their work. Therefore, the Assembly, in collaboration with relevant authorities would work together to establish a fish processing factory amongst other related enterprises to make the fishing industry thrive in the Metropolis”.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for Cape Coast, was speaking at a media engagement in Cape Coast.
The engagement was to present his vision for Cape Coast.
He stated that “we can transform the metropolis into a thriving, sustainable, and culturally vibrant coastal city that fosters economic growth, promotes social inclusion, and improves the overall quality of life for its citizens. These can be achieved by addressing pressing socio-economic challenges and leveraging the city’s rich history, cultural heritage, and educational prominence”.
He touched on tourism and indicated that, “Cape Coast is known to be the city of firsts and as such has numerous tourism potentials that could be harnessed for the development of Cape Coast, including; forts, castle, beaches and other historical sites”, and hoped to develop and expand tourism in the metropolis.
”The strategy for the development of the tourism sector is to establish a world class tourist information and support centre. Under this, the Assembly will establish a digital platform on tourism information and marketing. The assembly will also collaborate with the Ghana Tourism Authority and other relevant bodies to organize tourist–centered events to attract visitors and boost local businesses. The Assembly will map and profile all tourist attraction sites in the city and subsequently host them on our website”.
He further explained that “the Assembly will partner traditional authorities and organize annual cultural festivals and other unique programmes to attract tourists and celebrate the city’s heritage. Adequate security measures would also be put in place to ensure the safety of our tourists. We would do this deploying security and taskforce especially to our castle to ensure that the environment is worthy of a tourist site”.
On education, the MCE for Cape Coast maintained that “the mention of Cape Coast resonates with quality education. It is therefore worrying that we seem to be losing this opportunity of having our children in these elite schools due to a number of factors. Under my leadership, the Assembly will initiate programmes to strengthen the basic schools, expand Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training to bridge the digital divide and enhance learning opportunities in line with national policies.
Also, the assembly would intensify STEM and vocational education at the basic school level to inculcate employable skills in the children.
George Arthur however underscored the need for the assembly to develop partnership with the private sector to attract investments and diversify the local economy of the city.
“In addition, the Assembly will intensify Public Private Partnership (PPP) to facilitate private sector investments in the Metropolis”, he stressed.
