Is Ghana going to build a new seaport without railways in the 21st Century?
The Railways started from the Sekondi Jetty in 1896 and reached Kumasi in 1924. The Tarkoradi Port was then constructed in 1927 and inaugurated in 1928 (as exports being carried by the railways could not be efficiently evacuated from the Sekondi jetty). Note that the railway, which is a basic infrastructure for moving goods into and out of a deep seaport, was in place prior to the construction of the Takoradi Port.
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The (Tarkoradi) Port and Railways was then put under one management – The Gold Coast Railways and Ports Authority (GR&PA).
The GR&PA operated the two units successfully and both produced profits each year. The GR&PA successfully used the Tarkoradi Port to handle the sudden increase in traffic necessitated by the World War II (1939-1945) without any expansion to the Tarkoradi Port.
The profitability of the GR&PA continued on an annual basis, this enabled it to expand and build the Tema Harbour in 1962. The railway track laid up to Shai Hills for transporting boulders from the quarry site for the construction of the Tema Port was left in place awaiting the completion of the Akosombo Dam so that the port could be linked by railway to the Volta Lake and consequently linking the Tema Port to the North by transportation on the Volta Lake.
The GR&PA continued to be profitable until 1966 when the expatriate management team was sacked along with the Covention People’s Party (CPP) government. The railways then posted its first loss in 1967 while the ports showed reduced profits under the first Ghanaian management.
Split
In 1976, the two units (making up the GR&PA) were split into Ghana Railway Corporation (GRC) and the Ghana Ports Authority (GPA). By 1986, the GPA, which was supposed to be profitable, could barely sustain itself and was not considered viable enough to secure a loan for expansion on its own, it was, therefore, merged with the Ghana Cargo Handling Co. Ltd (GCHC) and Tarkoradi Lighterage Company Ltd (TLC) to form the Ghana Ports And Habours Authority (GPHA).
After the formation of the GPHA, new container handling procedures were introduced in Tema, which have resulted in the habour being choked with thousands of empties.
The container discharge procedure is as follows: A trailer is placed on the quay where the ship is berthed. The ship then discharges each container unto the trailer. The trailer is then towed by a tractor to the container terminal where the container is lifted and stacked in a space designated for the purpose.
The delivery of cargo to the importer or consignee was effected as follows:
The loaded container is placed in an inspection bay where it is opened in the presence of customs (GRA), GCHC Tally clerk, Port Security, and the importer or his agent, among others. Goods inside each container are taken out and checked with shipping documents using a low mast forklift truck. After inspection the goods are loaded onto the truck of the importer with the same forklift truck.
The container lift truck then picks up the empty container and stacks it in the space provided nearby for empties. The empty containers are then loaded onto a trailer and towed by a tractor to the ship side and loaded unto the ship which has been discharged – taking it out of the country.
The current container discharge procedure
The ship discharges all loaded containers unto the ground at the quay. The container is then lifted by a container lift truck (top lifter) from the ground and carried to a destination away from the quay. After various administrative procedures, the loaded container is carried out of the harbour using a vehicle to the premises of the importer or consignee. The empties are then brought back to the shipping line or GPHA and stacked in the harbour area. The empties can stay with the consignee for a maximum of seven days after which demurrage is charged.
Thus under this current system, a ship sails off after discharging all its loaded containers unto the quay without taking any empties away.
The GPHA shouted to the world that the efficiency of operation at the Tema Port has improved as “ship turn round time” in the port has reduced considerably as ships are not being made to take away an equivalent number of empties as happened when the GCHC was in charge of its operations.
The net effect of this current procedure is that the harbour area is stacked with thousands of empty containers with some stacks clearly labelled ‘EXPORT/EMPTIES’.
These empty containers pose a security threat to the nation and the entire shipping industry.
Expansion
The new expansion to the Tema Port as proposed by the GPHA/MPS partnership or agreement will include the creation of berths and a two hundred hectare (200ha) container terminal among other facilities.
The proposed 200ha platform means an area which covers 2.0 kilometres along the coast line and 1.0 kilometre into the Atlantic Ocean is to be filled with boulders (large stones) and concrete. At least 10 million tonnes of boulders will have to be carted from the Shai Hills by road through an already congested area (Tema Motorway Roundabout).
This is in sharp contrast to the 1960-62 era when rail services were provided exclusively for the construction of the current Tema Port.
The proposed container terminal will share a land border with the current Tema-Nungua Beach Road.
The people of Ghana demand an answer before the construction of this 1.5 billion US Dollar project begins as a director of GPHA said on the Citi FM Breakfast show on August 1--3, 2016 that all successful ports are evacuated using railways. This is a position we have lived with in Ghana (Gold Coast) since 1928.
It is to be noted that all railway lines in Tema Port have been deliberately removed by the GPHA as part of its expansion or developments of Tema Port in the 1990s
Conclusion:
After three decades of various expansions, developments and modernisation of our ports by the GPHA, the nation is saddled with the following.
(i) Boankra Inland Port is dead and awaiting the successful reinstatement of the railways.
(ii) Tema Port has no railway lines.
(iii) Tema Port is also choked with thousands of empty containers.
(iv) Tarkoradi Port after modernisation costing more than 100 million US Dollars cannot boast of any increase in traffic flow.
The writer of this article has worked as a Senior Engineer in the Ghana Railways and Ports Authority from 1972 to 1978 and as Chief Engineer in the Ghana Cargo Handling Company Ltd from 1978 to 1981.
Phone: 024 383 5132
