By Edzorna Francis Mensah and Seli Baisie
The organizers of this year’s Regatta Competition and Tours to the Islands on the Keta Lagoon Complex in the Volta Region were full of praise for massive participation in accordance with domestic tourism.
The first-ever Vodza-Adzido Eco-Tourism Development Initiative in collaboration with the Keta Municipal Assembly organized a one-day Community-led regatta on Easter Saturday, 16th April 2022 to kick start five years project aimed at developing it to become a national and Global tourism site to provide sustainable jobs for the indigenes.
The Initiative represents a dream that has existed since the reclamation of the land from the sea (Atlantic Ocean) and the dredging of the Keta Lagoon in the 1990s.
It is a dream aimed at transforming Vodza- Adzido’s ecological and cultural resources into an iconic tourism destination with conservation of biodiversity for present and future generations; through investment in infrastructure and superstructure facilities.
According to the organizers of the project, “the Plan seeks to create synergies among stakeholders and planning approaches to provide much-needed investment, jobs and income streams and to set the path for the development agenda of Vodza-Adzido and for that matter the Keta Municipality.”
The former Chairperson of the Public Services Commission now-retired public servant and currently the Chairperson, Board of Trustees of The Initiative, Bridget Katsriku (Mrs.) in an interview with gbcghanaonline.com said, “the objectives of the Five-Year Ecotourism Development Plan to promote livelihoods and tackle poverty, in the Municipality in general and Vodza-Adzido, in particular, through harnessing of natural and cultural resources to encourage international and domestic tourism has just begun.”
According to her, the project will also enhance supply and value chains to diversify local economic development as well as promote investment in infrastructure and superstructure facilities.
Mrs. Katsriku has told gbcghanaonline.com that, “this Easter’s unique Regatta and tour event has also provided an opportunity for residents and service providers to promote the Municipality ’s tourism-related amenities (hotels, cuisine, dance, music, souvenirs etc.)”.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces represented by Naval Captain Solomon Asiedu Larbi, noted that he called for a collaborative effort between the local fisherfolk and security to deal with maritime security issues.
According to him, there are Eighty-One (81) incidents of Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea in the Gulf of Guinea recorded but the figure dropped to about Thirty-Four (34) in 2021 and in 2022, a decrease in reported cases of Seven (7) Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
He said, “the drop in reported cases could be attributed to the effectiveness of the Yaoundé Maritime Security Architecture which promotes coordination, collaboration and information sharing among key maritime stakeholders in the subregion,”.
Additionally, “most of the navies in the region, such as the Ghana Navy commenced the acquisition of new and modern platforms to counter maritime insecurity in Ghanaian waters”.
Naval Captain Solomon Asiedu Larbi maintained that sustained efforts are however needed to ensure the continued safety of seafarers in the entire West African Region as he stressed the fact that, “at the local community levels, it is recommended that vigilance and reporting mechanism be established for the timely sharing of information on any suspicious activity with the waters.
Collaboration and coordination between the fishing community of Vodza and surrounding towns should be stepped up”.
“Already some action is ongoing which is very encouraging., once an unusual incident is noticed, the channel of information should be activated and the necessary liaison done to convey the information to the concerned authorities for necessary response to be initiated”, he added.
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