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37-638: Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana . It is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the capital city; Accra , in the region of Greater Accra , and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District . As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most populous settlement in Ghana, with a population of approximately 161,612 people – a marked decrease from its 2005 figure of 209,000. The Greenwich Meridian (00 Longitude ) passes directly through

74-649: A 100,000 dwt dry dock and slipway facility. The harbour is operated by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority . Ghana has a long history of fishing. The Tema fishing harbour is at the eastern end of the town's commercial harbour. It comprises the Inner Fishing Harbour, the Canoe Basin, the Outer Fishing Harbour, and a commercial area with marketing and cold storage facilities. The Inner Fishing Harbour

111-626: A 60% pay increase. Since this time the Tema plant has seen several years of shutdown and reduced capacity. In May 2003 VALCO closed completely due to persistent problems in negotiating its high consumption of electricity at an affordable rate. On August 4, 2004, Alcoa and the Government of the Republic of Ghana announced that they had finalized agreements to restart the VALCO smelter in Tema. The plan, which included

148-495: A carefully constructed road layout featuring landscaping and street lights. It boasted modern recreational centres and other social amenities rare among African cities at the time. President Nkrumah appointed Theophilus Asiaw Mills as the first District Commissioner. The importance of Tema as a port and industrial hub is reflected by the fact that the Ghana Police Service maintains a special policing region devoted entirely to

185-469: A chieftaincy dispute. The area's fishing potential was thus not fully exploited. Tema is characterised by a hot semi-arid climate ( BSh under the Köppen climate classification ). It lies in the driest part of southern Ghana, experiencing average annual rainfall of about 750 millimetres (30 in). Average temperatures are very warm to hot year-round, typically exceeding 28 °C or 82.4 °F every day of

222-527: A large harbor in 1961. The Tema metropolis was designed, planned and developed by the award-winning urban planner and Ghana's first architect , Theodore S. Clerk . The design team included a number of architects trained in London at the Architectural Association . It is now a major trading center, home to an oil refinery and numerous factories, and is linked to Accra by a highway and railway. Tema

259-445: A length of 50–65 m (164–213 ft) and the ability to land up to 650 tonnes per fishing trip. The largest fishing vessels, the deep-sea carriers (with lengths of 90–105 m, 295–344 ft), are mostly chartered vessels. Since 1984, the national catch has averaged about 200,000 to 300,000 metric tonnes per annum. Ghana's tuna catch has maintained a stable level of 30,000 tonnes per annum since 1981. The Canoe Basin caters for

296-669: A long association with slavery , its shore being known as the Slave Coast . From 1807 onwards—after slave trading was made illegal for Britons—the Royal Navy created the West Africa Squadron in order to suppress and crush the slave trade. These efforts were magnified after 1833, when slave trading was made illegal throughout the British Empire. These efforts would continue until the 1890s, and cost Britain significant sums of money, and

333-483: A major Ghanaian customer of VALCO is Aluworks . While one motivation for establishing the plant was the local availability of bauxite in Ghana, the major raw material of alumina, VALCO has for many decades imported alumina to produce aluminum. The smelter has a capacity to produce 200,000 metric tons per year of ingots. In early 2011, it began operating again at about 20% of its capacity, producing 3,000 tons per month, mostly for local consumption, with plans to activate

370-610: A second potline to bring monthly production up to 6,000 tons in Tema . 11 years later in 2022, the 600-acre plant was still operating at about one-fifth of its rated capacity, producing liquid aluminium, rolling ingot, and extrusion billet. These are used for electrical cables and conductors, holloware (including pots and pans) and roofing sheets. The government is seeking to internalise bauxite mining and aluminium smelting and production in Ghana, with new mines and plant updates. Industry media suggests in 2023 that despite retaining 750 workers

407-406: A treasure from Benin. A variation of the rhyme is also mentioned. Flash For Freedom! , George MacDonald Fraser's 1971 picaresque novel of Harry Flashman's misadventures in—among other places and situations—an English stately home, the 1840s slave trade, antebellum plantation life, and meeting with then-congressman Abraham Lincoln , quotes another variant of the couplet: Oh, sailor beware of

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444-438: Is also a traffic junction, dealing with transit cargo destined for the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso , Mali and Niger . The port of Tema handles 80% of Ghana's import and export cargo, including the country's chief export, cacao . The port has 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of breakwaters , 12 deepwater berths, an outsize oil tanker berth, a dockyard, warehouses, and transit sheds. The port has open and covered areas for

481-777: Is an aluminium company based in Tema , Greater Accra Region founded by Kaiser Aluminum and now wholly owned by the government of Ghana. VALCO was a joint venture with Kaiser Aluminum and ALCOA , major aluminum conglomerates both based in the United States , in the British Gold Coast colony in 1948. In 1961, Kaiser Aluminum & the Ghana Government invested in the Akosombo Hydroelectric Project to provide energy for its aluminum smelters. The company had negotiated favorable terms for power purchase with

518-629: Is located in Tema. It previously used the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) for the 10th and 11th grades and the International Baccalaureate (IB) for the 12th and 13th grades, but currently runs the full IB Diploma program for all four grades. The school was headed by Margaret Nkrumah for over 15 years, and is now headed by Mr Israel Titi Ofei and Nii Amaa Akita. Tema also has an international school , Tema International School (TIS), which

555-555: Is one of Ghana's two deep seaports, the other being Sekondi-Takoradi . Tema became an Autonomous Council in 1974 and was elevated to the status of a Metropolitan Assembly in December 1990. Tema metropolitan forms part of the sixteen Metropolis, Municipalities and Districts in the Greater Accra Region . The Metropolitan shares boundaries with Ashaiman Municipal , Adenta Municipal District , and Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal District to

592-493: Is responsible for about 70% of the catch. The Tema Development Corporation (TDC) is a public entity tasked with the planning and development of the entire city of Tema. Affordable public housing was developed by the government in conjunction with TDC and the State Housing Corporation. The corporation has been instrumental in developing the harbour area of Tema in particular, with modern housing. The corporation

629-1426: Is second to HGIC, and a senior high school, Tema Secondary School (TSS or Temasco), which was built on 22 September 1961. Tema has a number of public secondary schools such as Chemu Senior High School in Community 4 , Tema Methodist Day School , Mahean Senior High School, Our Lady of Mercy Senior High School and Tema Technical Institute. Private preparatory schools include Creator Schools, St Paul Methodist Primary and JHS, Marbs Preparatory School, Datus Complex, Deks Educational Institute, Naylor SDA School, Tema Christian Centre, Tema Parents Association, First Baptist School, Tema Regular Baptist School, Queen Esther School, Dorsons School, Adwenie Memorial, Creator School, New Covenant School, St Alban's School, Lorenz Wolf School, Bexhill School Complex, Life International School, Mazon Grace Academy, Santabarbera School, Angels Specialist School, First Star Academy, Pentecost School, Star School Complex, Tema Ridge, St John Bosco School and Rosharon Montessori School. Public primary and junior high schools in Tema include Twedaase Primary School, Star School, Aggrey Road School, Republic Road School, Padmore School, Mante Din Drive, Amen Basic, Manhean SDA School, and Bethel Methodist School. Bight of Benin The Bight of Benin

666-623: Is the Gold Coast colony in Africa where the character Larkom asks, "How does the old mariners' ditty run? You remember it. 'Oh, the Bight of Benin, the Bight of Benin, One comes out where three go in.'" Life expectancy was short in this locale due to the prevalence of Blackwater fever . The author Philip McCutchan has written a book titled Beware, beware the Bight of Benin . A short story by Elizabeth Coatsworth , "The Forgotten Island" (1942), deals with

703-461: The CEO position from 1963 after the enactment of the statute, until 1965. There are Public Transports from Tema to major cities such as Kumasi ; Accra ; Mim, Ahafo  ; Cape Coast , Sunyani ; Takoradi ; Tamale ; Ho ; Wa ; Bolgatanga ; Elubo ; Aflao , Techiman . SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College (SOS-HGIC), a private mixed boarding school catering to the 10th through 13th grades,

740-414: The artisanal fishermen . The basin is normally occupied by about 400 canoes . These are mainly two types: wooden vessels, locally called "Legelege", and metallic vessels. The wooden canoes have lengths over all ( LOA ) ranging between 30 and 70 m (98 and 230 ft), mainly owned and operated by indigenous Ghanaians. Their operations peak during the months of June–September. Artisanal canoe fishing

777-435: The Bight o' Benin. There's one as comes out for a hundred goes in. In Patrick O'Brian 's novel The Commodore (1996), Dr. Maturin recites the rhyme when he learns of his ship's destination. Commodore Aubrey checks him, telling him it is bad luck to say that out loud on the way in. The rhyme is also partially quoted in chapter Context(6) of John Brunner 's novel Stand on Zanzibar . The Bight of Benin (as well as

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814-491: The Bight of Benin relied heavily on a long established slave trade that expanded greatly after the arrival of European powers and became a global trade with the colonization of the Americas . Estimates from the 1640s suggest that Benin (Beneh) took in 1200 slaves a year. Restrictions made it hard for slave volume to grow until new states and different routes began to make an increase in slave trade possible. The Bight of Benin has

851-668: The British established the Bight of Benin British protectorate , under the authority of Consuls of the Bight of Benin: the republic of Benin and Bight of Benin were named after the Kingdom of Benin extending eastward from Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of River Niger. On 6 August 1861 the Bight of Biafra protectorate and Bight of Benin protectorate were joined as a united British protectorate, ultimately to be merged into Nigeria. Volta Aluminum Company Volta Aluminum Company , known as VALCO ,

888-502: The Royal Navy hundreds, if not thousands, of sailors’ lives from tropical diseases. The old Royal Navy rhyme says: A variation goes: This is said to be a slavery jingle or sea shanty about the risk of malaria in the Bight. A third version of the couplet is: In R. Austin Freeman 's 1927 novel A Certain Dr. Thorndyke , Chapter II, "The Legatee," mention is made of this location. The scene

925-620: The city. A large population influx began in the 1960s owing to the town's employment opportunities, but the Tema Development Corporation was unable to construct housing and provide other services to meet the needs of the migrants. The Tema Newtown district was overwhelmed by the sudden population growth, and became the poor cousin of Tema Township, receiving none of the latter's improved housing, geometrically laid roads, or social amenities. Moreover, royalties paid by Tema Newtown's companies to evicted villagers have not been used due to

962-417: The city. Tema is locally nicknamed the "Harbour City" because of its status as Ghana's largest seaport . It consists of 25 different communities which are numbered accordingly with each of them having easy access to the basic amenities. Tema is a city constructed on the site of a small fishing village. Tema was commissioned by Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah , and grew rapidly after the construction of

999-517: The fictional republic of Beninia) is mentioned throughout the novel. David Bramhall's series of novels "The Greatest Cape" also mentions the rhyme, one of the characters in the first volume, The Black Joke , having been a pirate and a slaver. In 2007, a collection of short stories entitled The Bight of Benin: Short Fiction by Kelly J. Morris was published by AtacoraPress.com. The stories are set in Ghana , Togo , Benin and Nigeria . On 1 February 1852

1036-490: The government. The agreement was re-negotiated in 1985, by the Rawlings government, to reflect the increased value of electrical energy. Documentaries reported favourable conditions for employees, with a hospital on site, maternity leave, long service rewarded by imported white goods (fridges, washing machines, etc.), and housing. Industrial relations had cooled by 1993, when the first union backed strike took place. This resulted in

1073-595: The harbor, which was entrusted to the Tema Development Corporation for the new industrial and residential development. The villagers of Torman migrated to a new fishing ground around 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) away, which they called Newtown. The main Tema Township was constructed, and the Tema Harbour officially opened, in 1962. Over the following decades, Tema grew into the industrial hub of Ghana, with

1110-476: The restart of 3 potlines, representing 120,000 metric tons per year (mtpy), was to be implemented in the first quarter of 2006. ]. It reopened in early 2006, However the plant shut again between 2007 and 2011. In June 2008, ALCOA sold its 10% stake in VALCO to the government of Ghana, leaving it wholly in government ownership and with no source of foreign investment capital. VALCO smelts alumina to produce aluminium ingots at its smelter at Tema . Locally,

1147-412: The storage of cargo, including a 77,200 m (7.7 hectares) paved area for the storage of containers, steel products and other conventional cargo. The port's container yard is capable of holding over 8,000 TEUs at any given time. The closed storage area, which is about 25,049 m (2.5 hectares) in area, consists of six sheds with a total storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes of cargo. The port also includes

Tema - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-635: The west respectively, to the east with Kpone Katamanso District , to the North with Dangme West District and to the South with the Gulf of Guinea. Tema was built on the site of a small fishing village called Torman, named for the local name of the calabash plant, Tor, which was cultivated there. "Tema" is derived from a corruption of "Torman". The government identified the site before independence , and in 1952 acquired 166 square kilometres (64 sq mi) of land north of

1221-441: The year, whilst minima never typically fall under 23 °C or 73.4 °F. The town's chief industrial products include aluminium, steel, processed fish, refined petroleum, textile, chemicals, food products, and cement. Major companies operating in Tema include Volta Aluminium (VALCO), Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Nestlé Ghana Ltd. , Wahome Steel Ltd, Tema Shipyard . There is also a free zone enclave in Tema. Tema Port, which

1258-730: Was constructed along the Tema Main Port in 1962 to provide a handling facility for semi-industrial and industrial fishing vessels, and to encourage the development of the local fishing industry . In 1965, the Outer Fishing Harbour was constructed for bigger industrial vessels such as trawlers , tuna vessels, and deep-sea carriers. The trawlers operating in the area are 30–45 m (98–148 ft) long and are able to land 55–65 tonnes of fish (usually redfish and club and scad mackerel ) per fishing trip. The tuna vessels range from smaller boats around 45–50 m (148–164 ft) in length, able to land 200–250 tonnes of catch, to larger versions with

1295-514: Was named after the Kingdom of Benin . It extends eastward for about 640 kilometres (400 mi) from Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of the Niger River , which marks the westernmost point of the Bight of Biafra . Historical associations with the Atlantic slave trade led to the region becoming known as the Slave Coast . As in many other regions across Africa , powerful indigenous kingdoms along

1332-485: Was opened in 1962, is the biggest of the two seaports in Ghana. In 2020 a $ 1.5 billion expansion project to increase container output to 3 million TEU was completed. The port is currently one of the largest container ports in Africa. It has a water-enclosed area of 1.7 square kilometres (0.66 sq mi) and a total land area of 3.9 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi). Apart from handling Ghanaian imports and exports, it

1369-539: Was set up in 1952 with the sole aim to develop and manage the township of Tema. In 1963, the Tema Development Corporation Act was passed. In recent years the corporation has had much investment from Korea , including plans, as of 2013, to build a new stadium, an idea which proved unpopular with squatters. The first chief executive officer of the corporation was Theodore S. Clerk , the first Ghanaian architect and award-winning urban planner who served in

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