Thursday, November 14, 2013

Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire Agree On Roadmap To Resolve Maritime Boundary Dispute

By Edmund Mingle
Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire yesterday agreed on an action plan to effectively resolve the maritime boundary dispute between the two countries.

After two days of meeting in Accra, the members of the Boundary Commission of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire adopted actions and timelines that would culminate in the resolution of the matter by June 2014.

As part of the actions, a joint technical committee of the Commissions would re-survey the common land boundary, Boundary Pillar 55 (BP 55) to confirm the geographical co-ordinates.

The two sides also agreed to exchange data on the base points from the breadth of the territorial waters in measured.

A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, which is the sixth bilateral maritime negotiation between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, said the two countries “undertake to respect the schedule of activities that will lead to the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two countries.”

The Ivorian team was led by the Benard Ehui Koutuoa, Ivorian Ambassador to Ghana, while the Ghana side was led by Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, who is also the chairman of the Ghana Boundary Commission.

Cote d’Ivoire’s claim to portions of the oil jubilee oil fields along the maritime boundary was intensified with a recent announcement by Cote d’Ivoire that it has discovered oil in the same area where Ghana also prospecting for oil.

In spite of fears that it could create some form of conflict between the two West African neighbours, the meeting was optimistic that the challenges would be resettled amicably.

Alhaji Fuseini, answering questions after the meeting issued the communiqué, explained that the joint commission was conducting a general boundary demarcation exercise and not focusing on the oil prospecting site which has generated the problem.

He said the technical committee would visit the BP 55 from November 26 to 28, after which the next two meetings of the joint commission would be held in Abidjan.
According to him, the joint commission was applying international legal procedures and United Nations conventions on maritime boundaries to resolve the matter.

Asked whether the prospecting of oil in the disputed zone would cease until the determination of the matter, the Minister said “the two countries have agreed to engage in a way that will not exacerbate the challenge that is confronting us.”

For his part, Ambassador Koutuoa, expressed appreciation to the government of Ghana for the committed it has exhibited towards settling the matter.

He said the government of Cote d’Ivoire shared the view of the government of Ghana that the resources should not create division but should be managed in a way that would promote regional integration.

“We are also fully committed to the peaceful resolution of the matter and we appreciate the atmosphere of friendliness in which we have held the discussions,” he said.

 END

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