Automation Of Premix Fuel: Dr. Bawumia inaugurates monitoring system to check corruption | The Big Stories
#AMShow
#TheBigStories
#MyJoyOnline
https://www.myjoyonline.com/ghana-news/
Subscribe for more videos just like this:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChd1DEecCRlxaa0-hvPACCw/
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joy997fm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Joy997FM
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3J2l57
Click on this for more news:
https://www.myjoyonline.com/
#AMShow
#TheBigStories
#MyJoyOnline
https://www.myjoyonline.com/ghana-news/
Subscribe for more videos just like this:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChd1DEecCRlxaa0-hvPACCw/
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joy997fm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Joy997FM
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3J2l57
Click on this for more news:
https://www.myjoyonline.com/
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 All right, so welcome back again now.
00:02 Government has commissioned an automated premix,
00:05 fuel dispensing and monitoring system
00:09 to transform Ghana's fishing industry.
00:11 Industry players hope this will end an era of corruption,
00:16 diversion and other inefficiencies prevalent in a premix
00:22 and the supply chain.
00:24 Now to help us talk about this,
00:25 we'll be joined by the administrator
00:28 of the premix, like I told you, Nana Abrakwa Asare himself.
00:33 Joining us, Nana, good morning.
00:35 - Good morning, Kuju, and good morning to all your viewers.
00:37 - Okay, so you launched this last week, am I right?
00:42 Oh, it was this week, rather, yeah, moving fast ahead.
00:45 Okay, so once you have, okay, I'll come to you,
00:50 but I'm told that Nana Jojo Solomon
00:52 is also joining us via Zoom.
00:55 He is president of the Kano Council.
00:58 He will be joining us to have this discussion.
01:00 But since you inaugurated, how has the process been?
01:04 - I think to begin with, let me take the opportunity
01:07 to also educate the viewers on what the system is about.
01:11 The premix fuel automation system
01:14 deploys the usage of cutting-edge technology
01:18 to solve the many problems that has bedeviled
01:20 the salient distribution of premix fuel
01:23 since time immemorial.
01:25 It utilizes CAD fuel dispensing systems,
01:30 CAD units, fuel leveling system,
01:33 and then we are able to track fuel in real time.
01:37 It's an end-to-end solution that would end all the problems
01:41 that has confronted the salient distribution
01:44 since its inception.
01:46 We launched it on Tuesday, His Excellency,
01:50 the vice president of the Republic of Ghana
01:52 was there to commission it.
01:53 It's been his baby since day one.
01:55 He's been very supportive on this project.
01:58 We identified that the problems that we face in the industry
02:01 can only be solved through technology.
02:04 And I'm happy that this has moved from paper
02:07 and we can now see projects dotted across the country.
02:11 We have 300 landing beaches across the country.
02:13 As I speak to you now,
02:14 we have about 50 that have been fully completed.
02:17 Hopefully by next year, we'll fully automate all sites.
02:21 And we believe that is a step in the right way to go.
02:24 Fishermen have been very, very supportive.
02:26 They've been very happy.
02:27 Right in the Omina where the project was launched,
02:30 fishermen have had the benefit
02:32 to experience how the system works like.
02:35 They've been very happy.
02:36 They've been very supportive.
02:37 Fishermen across the length and breadth of the country
02:40 are expecting that very soon we'll roll out this project
02:43 in the Aviris district as well.
02:44 - So for me, I'm not a fisherman.
02:47 I was also not there when it was launched.
02:50 Tell me how it works.
02:52 - All right, so this is how the system works.
02:55 All canoes, we've registered all canoes across the country.
03:00 In times past, you go to these landing beaches,
03:03 anybody at all walks to a landing beach
03:05 and says, "I want to buy a Premix 4."
03:07 Whether that person is a fisherman or not,
03:10 there's no way of verifying.
03:11 And by way of education,
03:13 Premix 4 is also highly subsidized by government.
03:17 Government spends a lot of money to subsidize this product.
03:20 And also, this product has other uses
03:23 because it's about 90% of the normal super
03:26 that we put in our cars.
03:27 You find unscrupulous people who buy this in large quantities
03:30 when the war comes, they hoard it,
03:32 and then they sell it to unsuspecting victims.
03:34 Some put it in their vehicles,
03:35 some put it in the car, the right there, machines.
03:38 Some put it in chainsaw machines.
03:40 Some use it to appraise their farms, et cetera.
03:42 And that is not the usage.
03:44 That is not the intent and purpose
03:46 for which government was subsidizing it.
03:48 So what happens is that it always creates
03:51 an artificial shortage.
03:52 The fisherman who the Premix 4 is intended to be for
03:57 doesn't end up getting it.
03:58 And then other people who are not fishermen get this product.
04:02 And like I said, it's subsidized hugely.
04:04 So people are able to make money on the back of government.
04:07 So this system would eradicate all of these middlemen
04:11 and these connection men that we call them from the system
04:13 because every canoe owner now will have a card.
04:16 So without a card, you can't dispense fuel.
04:19 You have to go, and these are modern systems.
04:21 They're like mini filling stations
04:23 where it has fireproof systems, et cetera.
04:26 So we've deployed cutting edge technology
04:30 to solve the many problems that we have.
04:31 Previously, we've had incidents of fire,
04:34 people burning left, right, center,
04:36 people going by Premix and put it in their rooms
04:38 and all of that.
04:39 This is now going to be a thing of the past.
04:41 - So I saw the vice president swap a certain card.
04:45 - Yes.
04:46 - Does it mean that if I'm a fisherman,
04:47 I go there, I swap my card
04:49 and I punch in how much I want to buy?
04:51 - Exactly, exactly.
04:52 So you get there, we are going to load,
04:56 we are going to do what we call a quota system
04:59 where fishermen are going to be giving quotas for the month.
05:02 Because it's a subsidized product,
05:03 you can have it in as much as you want
05:06 because if you have so much
05:08 and you don't know what you want to use it for,
05:09 that is where the temptation is there
05:11 for you to go and sell or divert
05:14 and use it for other things other than fishing.
05:17 There's also a phenomenon called light fishing
05:20 where it's against the fisheries laws
05:23 where fishermen put this Premix in their generators,
05:28 which is also illegal.
05:29 So for example, a fisherman would need,
05:32 let's say about two drums to go for his fishing expedition,
05:35 but because of this light fishing,
05:36 he may need four drums
05:37 and all of this contributes to the many problems
05:39 that we have.
05:40 So without a card and without your quota,
05:44 you will not be able to get the full.
05:45 So we are working closely with the Fisheries Commission.
05:49 The registration has been done.
05:50 We are vetting the list to make sure
05:52 that we don't get people who are not fishermen
05:54 to have this card to make sure we have a smooth process
05:58 as far as this system is concerned.
06:00 - Let me bring in Jojo Solomon.
06:03 So, I mean, you are the ones who are the forefront of this
06:07 because you are the beneficiaries.
06:11 Tell us how has this really changed your operations?
06:14 - Oh, well, thank you.
06:19 I think Nana Abako has said a lot of the goodies
06:25 about the automation intervention.
06:30 Yes, because we've been grappling with people
06:36 who are sort of cashing in on the premise
06:41 for which is the sole prerogative of the state.
06:48 The artisanal fishes, both inland and marine,
06:52 where you find people from all walks of life,
06:57 all cashing in and making huge profits out of the product
07:04 because of the heavy subsidy, like Nana rightly said.
07:09 And therefore, fishermen are always complaining
07:12 that we're not getting fuel.
07:13 We have to end up buying fuel from ex-pond,
07:17 like the regular ponds in town,
07:19 and then we'll have to mix it
07:21 and then find our way out there.
07:23 And we intend to give the, what do you call it?
07:33 We transfer the huge debts incurred to the consumer.
07:38 Hence the price of fish on the market
07:42 is constantly escalating.
07:45 So this has come as a game changer.
07:47 But I also want us to veer
07:50 on a precautionary side a little bit
07:53 because Nana is saying it as if it is the best
07:57 of all things that has happened.
07:59 But these people are always,
08:02 and also with our antidotes and stuff like that.
08:05 So I don't think it is 100%.
08:07 I want us to be cautious on how we are glorifying this thing
08:12 and saying all the good things about it
08:15 because I don't want that maybe tomorrow
08:18 we have people coming out to say that,
08:22 no, the machines have these problems here and there.
08:25 But I think so far,
08:27 through the demonstrations we've had and everything,
08:30 it's kind of about 90% okay with that,
08:33 which is perfect, you understand?
08:35 We are having issues with political sympathizers,
08:39 party people, party functionaries, some MMDCs,
08:44 in the name, all in the name of protocol.
08:47 Yes, it is our party.
08:48 Yes, I am the president's rep here.
08:51 Then you go there as a fisherman,
08:53 you went to buy food,
08:53 well, they could tell you that,
08:54 oh, they are serving the protocols first.
08:57 This is MC, DCs, drugs.
09:02 We are giving them three or four drugs.
09:06 When we finish before, we serve the fishermen.
09:08 They serve about two, three, four canoes
09:10 and then the product is finished.
09:11 I said, wait a minute, I mean, what is this?
09:14 You understand?
09:15 We are having issues with some of the MMDCs
09:18 and at the right time, we'll come out.
09:20 We're just observing how these machines are going to work.
09:23 I'll come out with a list of some of these DCs
09:25 and MMDCs who are cashing in on the premix
09:30 to the detriment of the ordinary fisherman
09:32 and the industry at large.
09:34 - Are they still doing it
09:36 now that the automation has started?
09:38 - Oh, the automation has just started.
09:39 I mean, it's starting with Almena.
09:41 So far, it hasn't trickled down to many
09:43 of the fishing communities or the landing sites.
09:46 - Okay.
09:47 - And very soon, I'm going to name some of the MMDCs
09:51 because they are the core.
09:52 But if they in the leadership role do these things,
09:56 then it gives the impetus for others to also join.
09:59 You understand?
10:00 But I don't think that they are above the law.
10:02 No, they are not.
10:04 - So since it started in Almena,
10:07 tell us how the experience has been.
10:10 What are the fishermen telling you?
10:13 - Oh, it's fantastic.
10:14 It's fantastic because even before the machines came,
10:17 fishermen were doing fisherman in.
10:20 These ordinarily containers that were taking 70 gallons
10:25 cannot even take 50 gallons now.
10:29 Meaning that the buckets they were dispensing the food away
10:33 was so tiny in the name of one gallon,
10:36 and maybe it is about three quarters of a gallon.
10:39 So before you realize you bought 70 gallons,
10:42 and the same gallon when you take it out
10:45 to the ordinary fish station, 50 gallons and it's full.
10:49 So when these machines came and we kind of piloted it,
10:54 we realized that, wow, 50 gallons in the containers are full.
10:59 So the fishermen applauded it and they realized that, yes.
11:04 If you hear any fishermen talking about anything ill
11:07 about the machine, then he's one of the black marketeers.
11:12 (laughing)
11:13 - Okay.
11:15 Arun, I'm sure this is joy to your ears
11:18 that the fishermen have already started to say
11:21 we are happy with it.
11:22 - Exactly.
11:23 - And if people complain,
11:24 then they are one of the black marketeers.
11:26 But what is the system that have been put in place
11:28 to ensure that the system achieves its goal?
11:33 That the black marketeers do not get access to it
11:38 or are not able to infiltrate
11:39 even the system we are operating on?
11:41 - Exactly.
11:42 The system is such that we've put in
11:45 a lot of controls in there.
11:47 It also has a lot of adaptability and functions.
11:51 It's very malleable.
11:54 - Okay.
11:55 - With a click of a button, you can even block a card.
11:57 - Okay.
11:58 - So if there are infractions,
11:59 you're able to increase the quota,
12:01 decrease the quota, et cetera.
12:02 And right from my office,
12:03 I'm able to even monitor what is happening real time
12:06 on the ground.
12:07 MP is monitoring, the minister responsible
12:11 is also monitoring.
12:12 So there are checks and balances with regards to the system
12:15 to make sure it's foolproof.
12:17 Like you said, so far he rated it at 90%.
12:19 I think it's not a bad score.
12:22 And we announced that and definitely
12:24 there may be one or two hiccups as we announced that.
12:27 And some people would also resist change,
12:29 especially like you said,
12:31 there are some fishermen themselves.
12:32 He emphasized a lot on the MMDCs,
12:35 but there are also some fishermen
12:37 who are also complicit in this game.
12:39 There are people who are not even politicians,
12:42 ordinary people on the streets,
12:43 they also come and cash in.
12:44 So the problem was a societal problem.
12:46 It was a human problem.
12:48 And I'm happy this system is going to eliminate
12:51 the human interface and allow technology
12:54 to be at the forefront.
12:56 As we roll on the projects,
12:58 wherever there are problems or wherever there are loose ends,
13:00 we'll make sure we tie them
13:01 and make sure the system is efficient
13:04 and transparent as possible.
13:05 - Is it internet based?
13:07 - Yes, internet based.
13:08 Yes, but it's also able to work offline.
13:10 - Okay.
13:11 Because I was gonna talk about where, places that.
13:14 - It works offline as well.
13:16 - Okay.
13:17 - So that's how.
13:18 We looked at all the challenges
13:20 and we make sure we design the system
13:22 that will be able to adapt to the challenges that we have.
13:24 - So there are 50 landing beaches.
13:27 - So far out of the 300 landing beaches
13:29 we have across the country,
13:30 50 sites have been completed.
13:33 - So they are working now?
13:35 - We just commissioned Elmina on Tuesday.
13:36 - Okay.
13:37 - So Elmina has started.
13:38 The rest are gonna begin from next week.
13:41 All of them are gonna be operational.
13:42 - All the 50?
13:43 - They'll start.
13:44 We'll roll it in phases.
13:45 We wanna take it.
13:46 There are some places that have been constructed.
13:48 We are just waiting for electricity to be connected.
13:50 So I say some of them are 98% just waiting for electricity.
13:54 Some just waiting for water, et cetera.
13:56 But out of the 350 I can say have passed 95%
14:00 completion stage.
14:01 - Okay.
14:02 Nana, for you, now that the Premier Secretary has done this,
14:07 to check corruption and diversion in these landing beaches,
14:12 for the places where there are none of these machines,
14:16 how do you think the Premier Secretary can check diversion
14:19 and their corruption in the use of Premix?
14:23 - Right, thank you.
14:26 For us, I think with the Premier Secretary,
14:29 what they've done is that they formed a task force.
14:32 So who acts on intelligence, who act on complaints that come,
14:37 who immediately go there and part of the task force as well.
14:41 Because I need to also ensure that my Ghana fishermen
14:45 are comfortable.
14:46 - Okay.
14:47 - And that they are putting value on the money
14:50 that the taxpayer has offered.
14:53 So in fact, I'm very serious about it.
14:56 Apart from that, I think that we're going to raise
15:02 with the secretariats so that at least if they are still
15:08 doing the bucket type till the machines are ready,
15:11 then we may have to also consult
15:13 with Ghana Standard Authority.
15:16 Get a standard bucket that can dispense the food equitably,
15:21 you understand, so that nobody is cheated.
15:27 Apart from that, I think, like you said,
15:30 it's a societal thing, human beings are involved.
15:33 But my emphasis is on the MNDC,
15:35 because if they do it, then it gives everybody
15:39 the right to do it as well,
15:40 because they are supposed to be there
15:42 to check the public purse.
15:45 If they are personally involved in these things,
15:47 for me, I see it as a big problem.
15:49 And thank God, at least if I don't, I'm not a lawyer,
15:53 but I know that nobody's above the law here.
15:56 - Okay.
15:57 - So if you're an MNDC or whatever, for me, I don't care.
16:03 We get hold of you.
16:05 We name and shame you.
16:09 - Okay.
16:10 - That's the only way out.
16:10 - All right, Nana.
16:11 I mean, Abraka, you hit the main important thing
16:15 is the standardization.
16:18 How are you working towards that?
16:19 - I think the ultimate solution is the system.
16:22 We are racing against time.
16:24 The Vice President has charged the Sector Minister,
16:26 Honorable Mavis Hawa-Kumson, to make sure
16:28 that this is done as soon as possible.
16:30 In fact, we should have finished all of this project
16:33 as far back as last year.
16:35 But of course, when the project started,
16:36 there were some challenges along the way,
16:38 land acquisition, et cetera.
16:40 So hopefully by next year, we should finish everything.
16:43 The bucket system, yes, he mentioned
16:45 that we could get some standardized bucket,
16:46 but realize that it may not solve the problem entirely.
16:50 But like he said, as current as we have it now,
16:53 in as much as we have it out nationally,
16:56 there are also systems in place.
16:58 We are doing a lot of education.
16:59 We are doing a lot of enforcement.
17:00 If you look at RLI, Section 28,
17:03 it talks about these offenses.
17:04 If you are caught diverting food
17:06 or you are caught selling food
17:07 above the government's price, you'll be prosecuted.
17:10 Some people have been jailed two years.
17:11 Some people have been fined, et cetera.
17:12 - Are you sure?
17:13 How many people have been jailed?
17:16 - As far as I'm concerned, I think since I took over office,
17:20 we've had about five people who have been jailed
17:23 on this issue.
17:24 Some have been fined.
17:25 And we even have cases in court as we speak now.
17:28 So there's a lot of prosecution happening
17:30 - What's the level of these people that you've jailed them?
17:33 Because usually the big fishes are sacrificed
17:36 at the expense of the smaller fishes.
17:37 - For me, sometimes I even think that the law
17:40 as we have it now, it's not even punitive enough.
17:43 Some of the fines, we realize that if you look
17:46 at the level of infraction and you look at the fines
17:49 that have been meted out to these people,
17:51 I think sometimes they're not even punitive enough.
17:53 But for me, I'm looking at how we can even stop the problem.
17:56 That is where our mind should go to.
17:59 It shouldn't even happen for us to go and fine.
18:02 We spend so much money on enforcement.
18:04 We spend so much money and time going to court.
18:06 You know, judicial process, you'd have to go to court
18:09 sometimes for six months, et cetera,
18:11 only for someone to be fined, let's say 2,000 cities,
18:13 3,000 cities, et cetera.
18:15 So I think this system seeks to stop it entirely
18:18 from happening.
18:19 And that is what we are committed in doing.
18:21 - Jojo Solomon, last time, a fisherman was telling me
18:27 that the issue about premix not coming to the landing beaches
18:31 is still an issue that we grapple with.
18:33 Is that a thing?
18:34 - Oh, go ahead.
18:39 - I mean, I was asking about the availability of premix.
18:43 A fisherman was telling me that still,
18:46 they do grapple with the issue of no premix
18:48 while at the landing beach.
18:50 And I'm asking whether because you represent the fisherman,
18:53 whether that is the case, and if that is it,
18:56 what could probably be contributing to it?
18:59 - Yes, like we said, there are a lot of leakages
19:01 in the system, leakages in the sense that premix,
19:05 well, like I think the Honorable Minister said it
19:07 on Tuesday, the day of the inauguration,
19:09 that sometimes the fuel even doesn't get to the destination,
19:13 it doesn't get to the recipient.
19:15 It finds its way somewhere.
19:17 This card, I believe, is a game changer.
19:20 But again, I also want to veer to cautionary
19:24 because you think you've gone and come,
19:28 somebody else come, gone and come and sleep.
19:31 These people will never sleep.
19:32 They will never rest on their ass.
19:34 They will try to hack the system and everything.
19:37 That's why I was telling the man at Wapeda,
19:39 he shouldn't let it sound that it is a 100% proof thing
19:43 for Ghanaians to say that, today too,
19:45 what is it about premix?
19:47 You understand?
19:48 But I also do not want to be pessimistic,
19:51 believe that, yes, this thing will go a long way
19:55 to alleviating the problems that confront
19:58 the ordinary fisherman.
20:00 We previously, here that we're doing 100 trucks in a week.
20:05 And we're all getting it.
20:09 Then, now we're doing about 250 trucks in a week
20:15 and the fishermen are not getting it.
20:18 So what is it?
20:19 But then intelligence is telling us that, look,
20:22 the food will find its way in so many different places.
20:26 So we have issue.
20:28 We need to police the product from TOR.
20:31 The premix secretariat,
20:35 they have a monitoring equipment in the office.
20:38 They must be up and doing because that machine
20:41 cannot sit in the office and still have issues
20:44 with diversion.
20:45 Otherwise, we'll name a shame them as well.
20:48 Donabra is here in red.
20:50 And then again, the Fisheries Commission,
20:54 they are the sole agency producing the data for the canoes
20:59 to assess this identification cards.
21:05 So if we have duplication in the system,
21:07 then they will name a shame them.
21:09 Those officers on the job in question
21:12 will bring them to book.
21:13 Fortunately, I serve on the Fisheries Commission board
21:17 as well.
21:18 So I think I have some amount of locals
21:21 to go into the way they develop the cards as well.
21:26 So I am very serious about it
21:28 because fishermen have been charged unlawfully.
21:33 We have been disenfranchised.
21:36 We have been, you know,
21:37 somebody comes to the landing beaches
21:39 that I'm constraincy, this, this, this.
21:41 This is my job.
21:42 Send me before I send the fishermen.
21:43 And then the fishermen who form the landing beach committees
21:46 are free.
21:47 So they will serve them.
21:49 You understand?
21:50 Nobody can stampede the system anymore.
21:52 We are taking it from here.
21:54 - Okay. - Thank you, sir.
21:57 - Nana, but that's serious there.
21:58 Yes, you've brought the system to check all of that.
22:01 But that's just 50 out of the 300 you mentioned.
22:04 So it means we have 250 landing beaches
22:06 that still don't have the automation.
22:08 And these things, like Nana is mentioning,
22:10 if they are going on, that's serious.
22:13 We are losing a lot of money.
22:14 - Yes.
22:15 As I said earlier on, we are actually racing against time.
22:18 - No, so Nana, before,
22:20 I know you want to bring the system,
22:21 but as you race against time
22:23 to install the systems at the 300 site,
22:25 what are you doing in the interim
22:28 to ensure that these things do not go off?
22:28 - So like you said, rightly,
22:30 we have a tax force that we've set across the country.
22:33 Honorable Mr. Jojo Solomon himself
22:35 is a member of the tax force.
22:37 He seems to want to name and shame everybody
22:42 aside the fishermen themselves
22:44 who are sometimes also very complicit.
22:46 Like I said, it's a societal problem.
22:48 It's a human problem.
22:49 So when he's naming and shaming,
22:51 he should also remember the fishermen
22:53 who formed the landing beach committees.
22:56 The chief fishermen are the chairman
22:58 of this landing beach committee system.
23:00 There are instances where even chief fishermen
23:02 even connive with this middleman
23:05 and then sell and then make profits.
23:07 So it is an entire system.
23:09 We all have to make sure that we are up and doing,
23:11 we are checking the system in as much as we wait
23:15 for the rollout of all the 300 landing beaches.
23:17 We engage with the law enforcement agencies.
23:21 We make sure that we crack the whip where need be.
23:24 There have been instances where we suspended landing beaches
23:26 from receiving food because of some practices
23:28 that we have cited, et cetera.
23:31 So we need to work more
23:33 as we also push the technology forward.
23:35 - Have you also thought about the remuneration
23:39 of these coordinators as to be the contributory factor
23:42 towards the diversion of this
23:46 and how you can tackle it from that angle as well?
23:49 - I think they are well remunerated.
23:51 - Really?
23:52 I don't want to mention names,
23:54 but you know I'm from a coastal community.
23:56 So I also do speak to some of them.
23:59 I mean, the stories I hear,
24:00 I mean, if you have someone like that
24:02 serving as a coordinator and you pay them those amount,
24:06 it serves as a window for them to then
24:10 engage in some of these things.
24:11 - For me, I think they're well remunerated.
24:13 But you see, no matter how much you are paid,
24:16 you should also look at the morality
24:19 of the job that you are doing.
24:21 There are times where we need to put our nation first.
24:25 Nation building is a consensus effort.
24:27 It takes the responsibility of everybody.
24:29 We have to do our part.
24:30 These coordinators would also have to do their part.
24:33 So I think it doesn't give a reason
24:35 or an excuse to perpetuate any illegality.
24:39 There have been instances where people
24:41 that pay thousands of CDs,
24:43 they still end up committing some infraction.
24:45 So I think it has to do with morality
24:47 and doing what is right.
24:48 And like Mr. George O'Sullivan said,
24:51 we will not hesitate to crack the whip.
24:52 We will not hesitate to name and shame.
24:54 That is where we need to go from here.
24:57 In as much as we are putting this technology in place,
25:00 as we wait to roll out,
25:01 we will not hesitate to crack the whip
25:03 on anybody who is found culprit.
25:06 Because if you look at the LIA,
25:07 the sanctions are very clear.
25:08 The laws are very clear.
25:10 We will not hesitate to crack the whip
25:12 on anybody who is found complicit in this game.
25:14 - Nana Jojo mentioned 250 tracks a week.
25:19 - Yes.
25:20 - But still, some do not get to.
25:22 So if you study, where do they get to?
25:23 Because you said they get to other places.
25:25 - Admittedly, I think he got the figures wrong a bit.
25:28 We've also had some challenges.
25:30 Nation, it's not only a Ghanaian problem.
25:33 If you look worldwide, last year, for example,
25:35 you realize how fuel prices were skyrocketing.
25:37 And I told you that governments put in a lot of money
25:41 into these subsidies.
25:42 If you compare the figures last year and the previous year,
25:45 last year, we couldn't lift as much as possible
25:47 because of global economic difficulties
25:49 because the prices had doubled and quadrupled.
25:52 The BDCs were struggling to even bring fuel into the country.
25:55 And all of this affected our operations.
25:58 Thor also had his share of his challenges.
26:00 Just last year, two weeks, the president tasked Thor
26:04 to fix some of the technical
26:05 and operational challenges that he had.
26:07 So until all that is fixed,
26:10 some of these challenges will continue to face that.
26:12 So we are looking at solving the problem holistically,
26:14 make sure Thor is working,
26:16 make sure the BDCs are also working,
26:18 make sure we also insulate them from forex losses, et cetera.
26:22 So we are tackling the problem in entirety
26:24 to make sure that at the end of the day,
26:26 fishermen get the right amount of fuel
26:28 to go for their fishing expedition.
26:30 Okay, thank you very much.
26:31 Nana Solomon, before I let you go, your final words.
26:34 Yeah, my final words are simple as this.
26:39 I am not holding brief for the Kassetran fishermen.
26:43 Nope, I will never do that.
26:45 Like he said, it's a societal thing, it's a human thing,
26:49 and therefore, what we are saying is that
26:52 we are going to name a shame.
26:54 Currently, if you ask Nana,
26:57 I am supposed to be doing some kind of work
27:01 on a particular DC.
27:03 I don't want to mention her name on air.
27:07 And that's Nana, I'll be calling you back and forth,
27:11 back and forth.
27:12 If care is not taken,
27:13 then I may have to divulge this in the public domain,
27:16 which for me, I think is not good enough.
27:18 So today, as early as possible, Nana,
27:21 give me the audience.
27:22 Let us deal with the problem with the DC
27:27 and get things moving.
27:29 Otherwise, we are also asking fishermen
27:32 that they should applaud the government.
27:35 This is a government that has come to ensure
27:38 that fishermen are rightly supported.
27:43 Look at the landing sites, the fishing harbors,
27:46 look at the mitigation measures like overcapacity.
27:51 We are trying to establish a moratorium
27:53 where we will not accept any more canoes
27:57 because of overcapacity and overfishing,
28:00 where the clothes is in.
28:01 All this is so that fishermen who sold
28:05 job that we've ever known is a marine,
28:13 capture fishery, which therefore, we must protect.
28:18 And therefore, we must also applaud government
28:19 for all these things.
28:20 And then also make sure that the prime secretary
28:25 does a better job.
28:28 - So what has this DC done?
28:31 The one you don't want to mention her name,
28:32 and why don't you want to mention her name?
28:33 What has she done?
28:35 - She's more than a one-man landing bridge committee member.
28:39 And people from outside the jurisdiction
28:44 come to take all the fuel and send them
28:48 beyond the lake area.
28:50 And then they go and do what they want.
28:52 At the instance of the DC,
28:54 we've had complaints upon complaints.
28:57 And those recipients, those who are supposed
28:59 to have the premix are not getting it at all.
29:01 - Oh, okay.
29:02 - And previously, the same person was taking 150 CDs
29:07 from each fisherman before they are allowed to be sold.
29:13 And I asked her, I confronted her,
29:15 and she said that she's the president's rep
29:17 and that she is what's developing her district
29:22 with that kind of money.
29:24 And I said, "In Ghana, we do not run a federal system.
29:27 You cannot do that.
29:28 We all must think, after all,
29:30 there's an ally that governs the premix,
29:32 the administration and the sale of the premix.
29:34 So you alone as a DC cannot sit in your small corner
29:39 and do otherwise."
29:40 The fisherman come back to us and said,
29:42 "Look, our colleagues next door go there
29:45 and they buy their fuel and they go to sea.
29:47 We have been asked to pay 150 CDs before we are sold."
29:51 And this same person, because nothing has been done to her,
29:54 she's still doing and she's scaling up.
29:57 - Okay, okay.
29:58 Which region is this?
30:00 (laughs)
30:03 - It's Greater Accra.
30:04 - Greater Accra.
30:05 Okay.
30:06 - Yes, sir.
30:07 - All right.
30:07 - You see how many women this is
30:08 and then you can narrow down on that.
30:10 - Yeah, sure, sure, sure.
30:11 And on one coastal district,
30:13 then we can know who's doing that.
30:15 - What's her first name?
30:17 (laughs)
30:20 - There'll be too much information to that,
30:22 but I'll refer to the person.
30:24 - Okay, all right.
30:24 Thank you so much.
30:25 I'm grateful that you could join me.
30:26 Nana Jojo Solomon is President,
30:28 Ghana National Kando Fishermen Council.
30:30 Nana Abraku Asare is the Administrator
30:34 of the Premix Secretariat.
30:36 Thank you for coming.
30:37 - Thank you, too.
30:37 - I wish you all the best.
30:38 - Thank you.
30:39 - All right.
30:40 This is still the AM show.
30:42 We're gonna take a quick break,
30:44 but let me say a belated happy birthday.
30:47 Okay, a belated birthday to Madam Abigail Donko,
30:51 mother of one of our ladies here, Mary Gifty.
30:54 Madam Abigail Donko is at Aboso Okai.
30:58 So yesterday was your birthday.
30:59 May God really bless you and your new age
31:03 with great health, great everything.
31:06 I mean, more money and joy as well.
31:08 We'll take a break.
31:09 We'll be back with more.
31:09 Do stay with us.
31:14 (dramatic music)
31:17 (dramatic music)
31:19 (dramatic music)
31:22 (dramatic music)
31:25 (dramatic music)
31:28 (dramatic music)
31:30 (dramatic music)
31:34 (dramatic music)
31:37 (dramatic music)
31:39 ♪♪