Tema fishermen to enjoy SSNIT’s pension scheme
Fishermen operating at the Tema Canoe Beach would soon be contributing to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust’s (SSNIT) pension scheme.
This is to ensure that fishermen retiring from active fishing would have some money to support them in their old age before death.
Nii Odametey II, Tema Awudum Chief Fisherman, who revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the Canoe Beach in Tema, said members had met management of SSNIT to fashion out how best to implement the pension scheme.
He stated that members of the Canoe Owners Association would be responsible for the payment of monies to SSNIT towards the pension of the fishermen operating their canoes.
He said it is sad to see older men who have retired from active fishing, visiting the seashore with bowls in hand begging for some fish to live on.
According to him, while fishermen in the Western Countries are rich, those in Ghana are very poor, therefore steps must be taken to cushion them to keep them from the poverty trap.
He said such a scheme must also be initiated for fishermen working on bigger vessels especially the Chinese and Korea vessels as they also suffer similar fate after retirement.
Nii Odametey said insurance companies must also initiate policies for fishermen and their equipment including canoes, nets and outboard motors.
He therefore commended government for mentioning in the 2014 budget that the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture would facilitate the implementation of the Fishermen Life Insurance Scheme.
According to Mr Seth Tekper, Minister of Finance, the insurance scheme would transfer the risk of liability resulting from the payment of compensation in the event of accidents in the coastal and lake fishing communities to the private sector.
The budget envisaged that “about 200,000 fishermen would have an insurance cover over life, canoes, outboard motors and fishing net at the end of the year”.
Source: GNA
Tema fishermen to benefit from pension scheme
Fishermen operating at the Tema Canoe Beach would soon be contributing to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust’s (SSNIT) pension scheme.
This is to ensure that fishermen retiring from active fishing would have some money to support them in their old age before death.
Nii Odametey II, Tema Awudum Chief Fisherman, who revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the Canoe Beach in Tema, said members had met management of SSNIT to fashion out how best to implement the pension scheme.
He stated that members of the Canoe Owners Association would be responsible for the payment of monies to SSNIT towards the pension of the fishermen operating their canoes.
He said it is sad to see older men who have retired from active fishing, visiting the seashore with bowls in hand begging for some fish to live on.
According to him, while fishermen in the Western Countries are rich, those in Ghana are very poor, therefore steps must be taken to cushion them to keep them from the poverty trap.
He said such a scheme must also be initiated for fishermen working on bigger vessels especially the Chinese and Korea vessels as they also suffer similar fate after retirement.
Nii Odametey said insurance companies must also initiate policies for fishermen and their equipment including canoes, nets and outboard motors.
He therefore commended government for mentioning in the 2014 budget that the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture would facilitate the implementation of the Fishermen Life Insurance Scheme.
According to Mr Seth Tekper, Minister of Finance, the insurance scheme would transfer the risk of liability resulting from the payment of compensation in the event of accidents in the coastal and lake fishing communities to the private sector.
The budget envisaged that “about 200,000 fishermen would have an insurance cover over life, canoes, outboard motors and fishing net at the end of the year”.
Source: GNA
NECO 006
Economics IIE AGM
Government must ban importation of certain goods – IIE
Accra, Dec.1, GNA – The Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) at the weekend appealed to Government to ban the importation of certain goods and services into the country.
Reverend Eric O. Ankrah, IIE President, said this would enable the locally manufactured products to have pre-eminence and, thereby, encourage the youth to develop their natural abilities that would eventually enhance the living conditions of our people.
He said Nigeria had banned so many imported goods into the country to enable their locally manufactured products to have the needed attention and create more jobs for the people.
Rev. Ankrah made the appeal in Accra at the Institution’s Annual General Meeting on the theme; “Technical and Vocational Education: Its Importance to National Development,” during which new council members were also elected.
He said technical and vocational education was the purview of the IIE making it a formidable institution that could handle and solve the basic needs of mankind.
He said: “We are the builders and implementers of all developmental infrastructures and, therefore, any nation that neglects these types of people such as engineers, technicians and craftsmen tends to suffer challenges.
“We provide material, plants and machinery to aid supply of food, clothing and shelter. We make the living condition of mankind more comfortable.”
Rev. Ankrah said there was the need for the Government to pay more attention to the development of technical and vocational education, focus on equipping them and making them more vibrant and productive.
He said: “Technical and vocational education is the backbone of every nation’s economic development and we will wish that more financial support is vested into these areas of the economy”.
Dr George Owusu Essegbey, Member of the National Development Planning Commission, said technical and vocational education was important because it produced critical human resource to drive the national socio-economic agenda.
“I will like to emphasise the point that Ghana can only achieve the development goals set in our national development framework and sector-specific policies if we take technical and vocational education more seriously than we are doing now,” he said.
Dr Adams Imoro, member of the Engineering Council, said no country had ever developed without the critical role of science and technology.
Mr Owusu Badu, General Secretary of Christo Asafo Mission, urged members of the engineering fraternity to believe in themselves and make a difference in society.
At the ceremony, 70 engineers, made up of corporate members, members and associate members, were inducted into office.