The Jamestown Fishing Harbour in Accra, constructed with a US$50 million Chinese Government Grant, is expected to commence operations before the end of this year. Spanning 60,000 square meters, the facility boasts modern amenities, including an ice-making plant capable of producing 60 tonnes of ice per day. The construction took four years to complete.
The harbour is equipped with a cold store with a storage capacity of 200 tonnes of fish, two workshops, a fish market accommodating 200 sellers daily, ancillary stalls, an administration block, and a creche for children.
Mr. Michael Achagwe Luguje, Director General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), along with other management staff, visited the project site ahead of the official handover and commissioning. Mr. Luguje expressed satisfaction with the completed work, stating, “We have that responsibility to make sure that they are efficiently managed. Definitely, users of the facility will use them for a fee. They will make some contributions towards covering the operating costs. We can only be grateful to the government and, of course, to the Chinese government for this partnership that has led to this facility.”
Mr. Luguje emphasised that while fishing ports are not significant income-generating facilities and are expensive to maintain, the GPHA views them as welfare projects aimed at enhancing community livelihoods. He urged the fishing community and stakeholders to work collaboratively with the GPHA to take good care of the harbour.
Mr. Komla Ofori, General Manager in charge of Engineering at the GPHA, noted that approximately 4,000 people would work at the fishing harbour daily. He added that the site was optimized to include the best facilities in the available space. “So, if you’re expecting canoes to bring fish here, the volume of fish that will come in here will not be enough for the land facilities that we have. Ice, for example, may have to be sold to people on land who may need ice for other things or fish brought from elsewhere for storage, depending on what the situation will be,” he said.
The Jamestown Fishing Harbour is part of an initiative by the Government, through the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, to construct and rehabilitate fishing harbours and landing sites in 12 coastal towns in Ghana. This initiative aims to maintain a hygienic environment for handling and processing fish, as well as to minimize post-harvest losses.
The beneficiary towns include Axim, Dixcove, Moree, Mumford, Winneba, Senya Breku, Gomoa Fete, Ekumfi, Elmina, Teshie, Jamestown, and Keta. The GPHA, as the agency responsible for the construction, management, and operation of all ports and port-related infrastructure in Ghana, is supervising the construction and rehabilitation of all 12 fishing ports and landing site projects.
