The government of Canada has donated two speed boats and diving kits, valued at one million Canadian dollars to the National Security Secretariat to fight illegal offshore activities.
The boats and kits will be used by the Army, Navy and Air Force to rescue distressed persons at sea. The Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Christopher Thornley, who made the presentation at the Tema Harbour, said that the two Commonwealth countries have had bilateral relations since 1957, and have been collaborating in a number of endeavours.
He noted that his country has keen interests in efforts aimed at fighting illegal offshore and narcotics activities, hence the zeal to sponsor the training and equip the personnel involved in this fight. The Deputy National Security Co-ordinator, Alhaji Salifu Osman, who received the items, thanked the Canadian government for the gesture, and promised that they would be utilised for the intended purposes.
According to him, the consignment was part of a training and equipment package the Canadian government had promised to assist Ghana with, in its efforts to make the Gulf of Guinea a safe place. Alhaji Osman further stated that the items started arriving in the country last year.
The Co-ordinator of the Scuba Diving course, Major Ignatius Awuni, said the present 18-man team, drawn from the tri-service and forming the nucleus of the unit, after the preliminary training in Ghana, will proceed to South Africa and spend between four and six months to advance and specialise in under water diving, life saving diving, and open air diving, before returning to Ghana to become trainers of trainees.
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