Ghanaian businessman and politician, Nana Kwame Bediako, also known as Cheddar, has clarified his comments about dredging the sea to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

Mr Bediako, in a recent interview during his tour of the Ashanti Region, stirred controversy after revealing intentions to extend the sea from the coast to that part of the country.

Many stakeholders have described his comments as a bluff and an impossible feat.

Given clarity on his comments during an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on April 10, he explained that the plan was not to extend the sea but to dredge a canal.

He said dredging a canal would increase industrialisation and improve transportation at the port.

The leader of the New Force said the initiative aims to enhance port accessibility for efficient transportation of goods as part of a broader economic industrialisation policy.

He also added that pressure by heavy-duty vehicles on land transport will be reduced.

“I want Ghanaians to understand that I'm here to build a country. My vision is very clear. That's how clear my vision is. I can see that development is going to happen this way because you need to connect your water bodies.

“Why do you think your colonial master is hiding that secret from you? But when you go to his country, he's connected all his waters. He calls them Thames, Canals, Ferry, Woolwich, and secretly he's transporting things on there,” he said.

Cheddar clarified that in Kumasi, he was referring to a canal and not a sea. Additionally, he stated that if there had already been industrialisation in areas like Ada, some development would have taken place.

“If you drill and connect a sea to any river, the name for it, which will be in development, will be a canal.

“Yes, canal. Now, a canal can have any sort of river, lagoon, sea, whatever that it is. And look, when you go to Ada, the water in Ada shares border right with the sea, right there. The opportunity is we could have created a harbor there if there was already industrialisation in those areas,” he added.

The businessman dismissed claims that it was impossible.

“I mean you guys make it look like it's unaffordable, it's unacceptable and it cannot be done. [It's a long time.] No, it's not. Actually, I'll tell you. Look, a vision without action is a mere dream.

“You and the dreamer, there's no difference. That's what a visionary is, if you have a vision and you can't find a way to activate the vision, if you don't apply action, it's a useless vision. It can be done.

“Once you decide to do it, it gets done. Now, why do I have the confidence to say so? Because I've done things. I have raised the first 16th-floor building in a place where they started building one floor, two floors, one floor, and two floors.

“I came and I went, and I put two floors underneath it. On one and a half plots, I put 108 apartments,” he added.