Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mohammad Habibu Tijani, has said Ghana has commenced a process to delimit the maritime boundary between Ghana and Togo.
Government will also strengthen the legal regime on piracy and maritime crime by moving the Ghana Maritime Offences Bill forward to enhance the maritime criminal justice system and effectively prosecute prospective offenders within Ghana’s maritime jurisdiction.
The Deputy Minister also outlined challenges and commitments in addressing Ghana’s maritime security threats at the just-ended 5th “Our Ocean” Conference in the Indonesian city of Bali.
This year’s conference, the first to be held in Asia gathered over 600 commitments, valued at about US$ 18 billion and created 12.4 square kilometers of marine protected area.
The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Habibu Tijani led a delegation to represent the Sector Minister at the conference.
The Deputy Minister was joined by Ghana’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, H.E. Akua Ahenkra and other officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
At the conference, the Deputy Minister presented a Statement on “Ghana’s Initiatives in addressing maritime security issues” on a panel.
An Indonesia-Africa Maritime Dialogue was also held on the sidelines. It was attended by Senior Officials from Indonesian institutions and officials from African countries including Ghana.
Other representatives from Fish-I African, Global Fishing Watch, Interpol, and UNODC were also present.
The Minister cited piracy and armed robbery, illegal oil bunkering or theft of crude oil; threats to offshore oil and gas production; illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and arms, drugs and human trafficking as the major threats to Ghana’s maritime security.
He assured everything possible was being done to address the concerns.
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Source: Citinewsroom.com | Ghana