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Firms convert seaweed, clay into raw material
Mr Faibille addressing the House
The Petroleum Commission, in partnership with Tullow Ghana Limited (TGL), has transformed the Sargassum seaweed into a raw material for the production of ovens in fishing communities in the Western Region.
The Ahoto ovens are environmentally-friendly and also promote good fish hygiene and preservation.
It also seeks to enhance energy efficiency, enhance job creation, and improve the local economy and profitability of the project.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Petroleum Commission (PC), Mr Egbert Faibille Jnr, announced the innovation at the eighth edition of the PC-Western Regional House of Chiefs annualmeeting at Sekondi, on Monday.
The event was to update the House on the upstream petroleum activities and social investment in the Western Region.
The Sargassum seaweed, MrFaibille noted, hitherto, was a public nuisance that hindered fishing activities and endangered livelihoods of fisher folk along some coastal beaches in Ghana.
He stated “I am glad to announce that hydrofoam bricks made from a mixture of processed seaweed and clay are being produced in Axim and used to construct Ahoto fish ovens, used by our fish processors.”
Mr Faibille said, by the end of 2023, about 100 ovens would be distributed to fishmongers in all the seven coastal metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the Western Region.
He assured the Commission would ensure the implementation of social investment to benefit oil host communities in the Western Region.
He told the House that, upon the request of the Bakanta Royal Stool, the Commission gave approval for ENI, as part of its local content obligations, to asphalt the 3.2km Sanzule-Old and New Bakanta road in the Ellembelle District.
This is to check flooding and improve road networks in the Sanzule area, Mr Faibille explained.
On the Exclusive Zone demarcated for safety at sea, he commended the fisher folk for observing restrictions at the 500-metre area, leading to drastic reduction in incursion rates.
“It is gratifying to note that year-on-year, the rate of incursions around petroleum facilities reduced from 36 in September, 2022, to 11, same period in 2023, representing about 69 per cent decrease,” the CEO explained.
He said, a dispute resolution committee comprising the Ghana Navy, Canoe Fishermen Council, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), exploration and production companies and the Commission would be formed.
That, he added, would promote peaceful co-existence between the security services, upstream operators and other users of the marine space.
From Clement Adzei Boye, Sekondi