Tree Stumps and Canadians

Paul is in Abidjan this week…he says it’s weird but exhilirating (my words not his). I’m here in Accra and realized yesterday that I simply am not inspired here on “the compound” and it really takes being in the City to feel something akin to inspiration. More about that later…

The big event today is that a former Canadian Prime Minister and his business partner are in town to ink a deal with the Ghanaian government. I’m still trying to understand the whole idea. Joe Clark and Wayne Dunn are offering to remove tree stumps from Lake Volta. Now I don’t really get this. Apparently fishing nets get tangled on the stumps and slave kids are forced to dive down and try to untangle them; some end up dying in their efforts. I’ve also heard that many boats hit these stumps and sink – boat, passengers, everything; more lives lost.

On the flip side, I’ve read accounts that these tree stumps provide fertile breeding ground for fish and so there are plenty of fish in the Lake. This has to be a good thing, no? People get their livelihoods from the fish and they also have food. So I am wondering what is going to happen to the fishing industry if the tree stumps are removed.

This whole idea of removing tree stumps has left me with a lot of questions…questions I hope the former Prime Minister can answer when I interview him.