Fishing activities suspended in Butuah Lagoon

The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly on Wednesday suspended all fishing activities in the Butuah Lagoon at New Takoradi until further notice.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mr. Opoku Boateng, the Public Relations Officer of the assembly, following a stakeholders’ meeting on the alleged pollution of the Butuah Lagoon that led to the death fishes.

Representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fisheries department, Metropolitan Health Directorate and oil marketing companies in
Sekondi-Takoradi attended the meeting.

The assembly advised residents of New Takoradi to desist from eating any dead fish.

The statement said the assembly has directed the Metropolitan Health Directorate to find out from the various health facilities in the metropolis any reported ailment that could be linked to the eating of contaminated fish.

“The general public is hereby advised to immediately report any ailment as a result of any fish diet to the nearest health facility”, it said.

The statement said the assembly had ordered the immediate exhumation of buried fishes to undertake a proper burial exercise under the strict supervision of the EPA, Environmental Health and Waste Management Departments of the assembly to forestall any further environmental hazards.

The EPA has taken samples of the dead fishes to its head office in Accra for analysis to ascertain and establish facts on the alleged pollution.

The EPA has also been asked to continue its investigations into industrial activities in the catchment area to find out any linkage of their activities to the pollution.

Source: GNA