Sekondi (WR), Feb 15, - The
Western Naval Command has arrested nine persons for engaging in illegal
bunkering, smuggling and other prohibited activities.
They were arrested at New
Takoradi, Inchaban and other locations within the jurisdiction of the Command
and had been handed over to the Police for prosecution.
The Navy seized items such as;
specialised canoes, outboard motors and fuel tankers from the suspects.
This came to light when the Vice
President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia paid a working visit to the Sekondi Naval Base in
the Western Region on Thursday.
Commodore Isaac Osei Kuffuor, the
Flag Officer Commanding the Western Naval Command, who briefed the Vice
President, said the security situation within the Command was relatively calm
and the Navy undertook regular patrols on the country's territorial waters,
including the oilfields.
He said the Navy needed 160,000
litres of fuel per month to ensure effective patrols and operations and needed
more patrol ships to effectively patrol the jurisdiction of the Command and the
oilfields.
He appealed to government to
expedite action on the establishment of the Forward Operational Base at
Enzilebo in the Jomoro District so that Navy personnel could be stationed there
to protect the oilfields and oil installations.
Commodore Kuffuor enumerated
other challenges such as; lack of accommodation for the personnel and other
operational logistics adding that the Navy needed more funds to expand some
health facilities constructed for them to ensure efficient delivery of
healthcare.
Vice President Bawumia and his
entourage inspected the seized items and later paid a courtesy call on Nana
Kobina Nketsia V, the Paramount Chief of the Essikado Traditional Area.
Vice President Bawumia said the
visit to the Western Naval Command was to enable government to have better
understanding of issues regarding the maritime sector and enable the government
to take informed decisions and implement policies to solve them.
He said Ghana could not move
beyond aid when the maritime resources were adversely affected.
He said illegal bunkering could affect
the collection of taxes and negatively affect the economy and government would
first understand happenings on the ground to implement policies that would
inure to the benefit of the citizenry.
Nana Kobina Nketsia V, commended
Vice President for his humility and encouraged him to continue the good works.
He asked government not to employ
people based on partisanship or ethnicity but be fair to all Ghanaians and
praised the father of the Vice President for serving Ghana with zeal and
patriotism and believed Dr Bawumia would emulate him.
The Vice President was
accompanied by the Western Regional Minister Dr Kwaku Owusu Afriyie, the
Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Development, Elizabeth Afoley-Quaye, Deputy Minister of Aviation, Kwabena
OKyere-Darko Mensah, a Deputy Minister of Energy, Joseph Cudjoe and the Chief
Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, Hassan Tampuli.
GNA
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