The cold store in a deplorable state
A MILLION Euros cold
storage facility that was built to address post-harvest fish losses in the
Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region has been left to rot away.
The Spanish FAD-sponsored
refrigeration facility has been left to the mercy of sea breeze and hard
weather conditions due to what is believed to be heavily indebted electricity
bills.
The landing beach cold store was
the first of six to be located in different fishing communities at a total cost
of $7 million during the tenure of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
The facility is made up of cold store rooms, one freezing tunnel, an ice bin and
a flake ice factory.
Other communities that were to benefit
from the project included coastal towns like Shama, Nyanyano, Kormantse, New
Takoradi and Half Assini.
The facility built to prevent post-harvest
losses was also producing ice cubes in large quantities for fishermen who used
it to preserve their fishes whilst at sea.
However, the cold store which was
under private-public management has not worked for over three years as a result
of huge electricity bills accumulated.
The Electricity Company of Ghana
(ECG) has since disconnected power supply to the facility, thereby forcing the
management to lock up the place.
This has left the laudable project
to be at the mercy of the bad weather and the equipment is deteriorating very
fast over there.
Some fishermen and fishmongers who
spoke with DAILY GUIDE could not hide their frustration over the situation
when they said the lack of cold storage
facilities was resulting in a lot of waste in the system.
According to them, they had to
travel to buy ice cubes in Tema to preserve their fish stock.
They appealed to government to see
to the re-opening of the cold store.
From Vincent Kubi, Prampram
