President cuts sod for work on Tema Port project
Ghana marked a major milestone in the development of its maritime industry when President John Dramani Mahama cut the sod for the expansion of the Tema Port on Wednesday.
Advertisement
The project, the single biggest investment since the port was established in 1962, is estimated to cost $1.5 billion.
It is to be completed by the end of 2019.
It is a joint venture between the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Meridian Port Services (MPS) and its partners, Bolloré Transport & Logistics and APM Terminals, under a 35-year concessionary agreement.
The project is being financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Project
It will involve the reclaiming of some 120 hectares of land from the sea for the construction of an inland container terminal, operational offices and other ancillary units.
Others are the creation of a 16-metre draft and a 1.4-metre quay wall with a four-metre deep berth that will enable the port to accommodate bigger vessels of about 360 metres long.
The facility will be equipped with sophisticated container handling gantry cranes and terminal operating systems, thereby quadrupling the capacity of the port to handle some of the world’s biggest container ships of 18,000 container cargo capacity.
It will thus enable the port to berth West African maximum vessels (WAFMAX) with a 4,500 and 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) tonnage.
The project will also increase the port’s capacity to handle some 3.5 million TEUs of cargo and become one of the most efficient facilities in the West African sub-region.
Employment
President Mahama indicated that the project would generate some 1,000 jobs during the construction stage and an additional 5,000 new direct jobs upon completion.
“The overall economic impact will translate into 400,000 jobs along the whole maritime transport chain,” he stated.
The President announced that under the expansion works, MPS would expand the Tema Motorway into a six-lane road, with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) providing assistance for the development of the Tema end of the motorway into an interchange.
Additionally, he stated that a direct road from the port to the motorway would be developed, saying that would see the Tema General Hospital road being remodelled, with parts solely made as a direct link to the port.
Investments
President Mahama said that the investment being made in the project would change the dynamics of the country’s maritime industry over the next 100 years.
An integrated maritime industry, he said, would require the resuscitation of the railway sector, hence the revival of the Western and Central railway lines to facilitate the transportation of passengers and cargo to and from the port.
“Most efficient ports across the world are those that have the backbone of intermodal accessibility,” he pointed out.
The President declared his intention to begin the process to amend the legislation covering the railway sector to create a new modern railway company as a subsidiary of the GPHA.
“We have also directed the port authority to develop the capacity of our ports to support the integrated bauxite and aluminium industry which has the potential to generate the movement of over 10 million tonnes of cargo and create over one million permanent jobs within the first 10 years of its establishment,” he said.
Assurance
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the MPS, Mr Mohammed Samara, for his part, assured the government of the determination of the partners to inaugurate the first phase of the project, which would involve the completion of two berths, by 2018.
“This project will reflect the aspirations of Ghana and further link the African market to the global trade chain,” he said.
The Director General of the GPHA, Mr Richard Anamoo, expressed gratitude to the President for the confidence reposed in the partners and assured him that “we will not disappoint”.