Ellembelle — Fishermen in the Ellembelle District in the Western Region have received food items, worth about GH?12,000 from the district assembly. The items comprised 70 bags of rice and 42 boxes of cooking oil.

The District Chief Executive, Mr Daniel K. Eshun, said that government had the plight of fishermen at heart. Mr Eshun said the sea weeds problem and the algae bloom that had been a threat to their activities were worrying to the district in particular, and the government in general.

He explained that the donation was a way of showing concern to fishermen in the area and assured them of the government?s commitment to finding a lasting solution to the problem.

Mr Eshun said that the amount for the purchase of the items was taken from the Internally Generated Fund (IGF) of the assembly, reiterating the need for them to pay revenue in order to generate development. He assured them that proceeds from IGF would be felt by all the communities in the district.

The Member of Parliament for Ellembelle who doubles as the Deputy Minister for Energy, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, assured the fishermen of President John Atta Mill?s commitments to improving the lives of fisher-folk in the country.

Mr Kofi Buah indicated that government is concerned about the well-being of fishermen and would stand by them in their difficult times, adding that President Mills had charged the Ministry of Science and Environment to do the necessary research to find solution to the sea weed problem together with the algae bloom menace. He promised to follow up at the Ministry until a solution was found to relieve fishermen off the stress.

He donated GHC1,000 to the fishermen, and implored on them to learn new ways of fishing so that they would benefit from packages that the government had introduced to improve the fishing industry.

The chairman of Sanzule fishing community, Mr Francis Badu, thanked the MP and the assembly for the donation and appealed for their children to be considered in scholarship packages of the assembly to enable them attain high pedestal in education.

He said that times were hard due to the disturbance of the sea weed and the algae bloom, and expressed hope that their children could climb high the academic ladder if they were assisted.