The Chiefs of Kpone Ete – a small village near Prampram in the Greater Accra Region are unhappy about what they described as “suspicious activities” in their community after a ship docked on their shores.
Two vessels are reported to have been sneaked into the area and that appears to be arousing environmental and security fears among some leaders within the community.
Citifmonline.com checks revealed that, this is the second time a vessel has docked on their shores after an initial one from Nigeria according to the residents.
According to the workers on the vessel, they docked there to dismantle it into scraps.
However, Togbe Atsu II who is the chief of the Village feels there could be more to what the workers said.
In an interview with citifmonline.com Togbe Atsu II said, “They usually bring them [the vessels] at night and you will find lots of big cars and tractors parked around here. I don’t know where they [the strangers] are coming from.”
He revealed: “you will find them offloading things from the ship but whatever materials they go in to bring at night we don’t know.”
He alleges the people involved may be engaging in covert activities.
“The ships should go to the Tema dry dock for it to be cut so that they pay taxes to government. They are not paying anything – if they are, then the internal revenue must come out and say they are doing this in the interest of government.”
Meanwhile, Ivy Asante, a resident in the community, also corroborated the chief’s claims and called on the state to intervene before issues get out of hand.
“I always see them come with a toll boat that comes from the port so I am sure some authorities at the port are involved. It is a matter of National Security because the port is right here. What is going on, don’t we have laws anymore?”
“We don’t know what they are bringing here. It could be drugs or ammunitions, and something needs to be done because it doesn’t make sense” – she adds
Aside this, the presence of the ship in the village appears to be having an adverse effect on environmental conditions in the area.
The once vibrant Kpoi Ete community which had a lot of fishing activities is gradually turning into a ghost town as oil and debris from the ships cover the surface of the water and fishermen have abandoned their canoes to seek greener pasture elsewhere.
Togbe Atsu II noted, “this place used to be a fishing ground – where we could drag nets in the seas but now our nets cannot arrive safe on land”
“This is because the debris from the ship are always disturbing us and no net can come ashore. We don’t know the deal the environmental protection agency has with them, but why is this the only place these people can cut their ship?”
The Police, Millitary, Navy and the Environmental Protection Agency have been notified by citifmonline.com about the activities of the unknown people at the Kpoi Ete community and investigations are currently underway.
By: Benjamin Epton Owusu/citifmonline.com/Ghana