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Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah addressing the board members at the inauguration in Accra
Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah addressing the board members at the inauguration in Accra

New GPHA board charged to solve operational challenges

The Minister of Transport, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has charged the reconstituted board of directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to adopt best practices to deal with the operational challenges of the authority.

He also urged the board to support the management of the authority to bring profitability to the company’s operations.

Inaugurating the 11-member board of directors of the GPHA in Accra yesterday, Mr Asiamah said Ghana relied on revenues from the ports for its development.

Board members

The new board is chaired by a former chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Peter Mac Manu, and has the acting Director of the GPHA, Mr Paul Ansah Asare, and the two Directors of the Takoradi and Tema Ports, Messers Edward Osei and Captain Ebenezer Afedzi, as members.

Others include Mr Twumasi-Ankrah Selby of the Transport Ministry, Ms Benonita Bismarck, the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Shippers Authority; Nana Dr Appiagyei Dankawoso, representing the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, and Mr John Essel, representing the railways sector.

The rest are Madam Eunice Jacqueline Buah of the Council of State, Mr Samuel Arhin, representing the workers union of GPHA, and a representative of the Private Shipping Companies.

Growth activities

Mr Asiamah said the Tema Port catered for a larger chunk of the country’s imports, together with the handling of transit goods for neighbouring countries.

That situation, he said, had resulted in congestion at the port, making the GPHA embark on expansion projects to deal with the problem.

Timely implementation

He expressed the hope that the new board would ensure the timely implementation of the on-going expansion projects at the Tema and Takoradi ports to cater for the increasing volumes of cargo, address congestion as well as handle bigger vessels.

The minister said the ports were experiencing operational challenges which had led to high cost of doing business, as well as revenue leakages and inefficiencies.

Mr Asiamah said as a demonstration of government’s commitment to address the challenges, a recent conference, chaired by Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, came out with a number of policy interventions to address them.

Appreciation

In an acceptance speech, Mr Manu expressed appreciation to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo for the trust and confidence reposed in the board members.

He said the board would strive to initiate policies and programmes that would reduce the turnaround time of vessels and speed-up cargo clearing, as well as promote a paperless system at the port in synch with the Vice-President’s three policy directives effective September 1, 2017.

Mr Manu mentioned the three policies as joint inspection, hundred per cent paperless transaction of all ports services and the removal of all customs and excise preventive services road barriers.

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