File: A truckload of some of the dead fish bound for destruction[/caption] The Chinese-owned farm at Asutuare where large quantities of tilapia fish mysteriously died in October has been ordered to close down. This follows the revocation of the environmental permit issued the company, China Fujian Fishing (GH) Limited. The company was issued with an Environmental Permit No. CA 577/01/17 dated March 15, 2017 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to operate that aquaculture facility at Asutuare in the Greater Accra Region. “Investigations conducted by the Agency into the operations of the Company revealed that the company faded to comply with the conditions of the Agency’s Environmental Permit,” a public notice published by the EPA in the Daily Graphic on Friday stated. Large quantities of the fish, said to be about 18,000 tonnes, were in October destroyed by the China Fujian Fishing at a site outside the farm premises in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region. Various laboratory tests on the fish proved negative of them dying from poisonous materials. This led to the government clearing the farm of any wrong doing and paving way for it to start operation. Read also: Chinese-owned tilapia farm reopens; gov’t says its tilapia is safe But the Environmental Protection Agency that said the company failed to comply with the Environmental Permit has with immediate effect directed it to:
- Cease all production operation with immediate effect
- Evacuate and destroy all strains of Tilapia in the facility
- Evacuate all fish cages from the Lower Volta River within twenty-eight (28) days from the date of the revocation letter (February 5, 2019).