The people of James Town, in the Greater Accra Region are to benefit from a $16.5 million fishing harbour.

The fishing harbour will be the first to be constructed out of an estimated 20, which would be made up of one more fishing harbour, twelve landing sites and six cold stores within the coastal belts in the country at an estimated amount of $148million.

President John Agyekum Kufuor who performed the sod-cutting ceremony last Friday assured fishing communities that the government has put in place adequate measures to prevent any form of conflict between them and oil companies.

According to the President, many concerned citizens have expressed fears that there would be an outbreak of conflicts between oil companies and local communities where oil would be exploited.

He indicated that the government is working out modalities that would ensure that the needs of the local communities are met to prevent any form of.

According to President Kufuor, the construction of the harbour would help modernize the fishing industry and bring back the interest of the youth in the area who wish to take up jobs in the fishing industry.

He said that among other modernization steps being taken would be the use of fibre-glassed canoes and in board motors by Ghanaian fishmen and announced that already companies with such expertise are already making arrangements for funds to enable them construct such canoes.

He said that to ensure that women who are mostly onshore selling their fish do not deprive their children from going to school the construction facilities would include a day care centre which would house the children of fisherwomen.

The President said that a major challenge of the fishing industry in the country currently is the invasion of the country's territorial waters by foreign fishing trawlers and announced that the government through the Ghana Navy is putting in place mechanisms to guard the country's territorial waters against such foreigners.

The Minster of Fisheries, Mrs. Gladys Asmah underscored the fact that the fishing industry has been a backbone of many fishing communities for centuries with particular reference to artisanal fishermen and fish processors.

She said research findings over the past three decades have given ample evidence of depleting stock of the fishery resources and therefore called for an effective sustainability of the fisheries resources.

The Sector Minister was optimistic that the construction of the harbours and other facilities would create jobs for the people.