Transport Minister unveils projects to enhance port activities
A new container terminal is being developed at the Tema Port to create space and increase container handling capacity at the port.
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It will also provide additional berths with a view to reducing waiting time at anchorage and also provide access out of the port.
The Minister of Transport, Mr Fifi Kwetey, who announced this when he met representatives of the news media at the ministry’s turn at the Meet-the-Press series in Accra yesterday, said the Takoradi Port was also undergoing redevelopment to meet the demands of the oil and gas sector.
Development activities
He said fabrication work and the construction of suction risers for the oil rigs were progressing at the Takoradi Port.
He explained that all those measures were geared towards improving efficiency, enhancing security and reducing cost of service delivery at the ports.
Mr Kwetey said work on the Ghana Shippers House in Accra, a project which sought to provide a one-stop shop for shipping and related services, had been completed and the facility was in use.
He said the house, which was accommodating the head office of the Ghana Shippers Authority, a freight exchange centre and a 540-seater conference facility, also had an underground and over-ground car parking and a 1200KVA stand-by generator.
Regulations
He announced that three regulations on the maritime and inland waterways sub-sector had been passed by Parliament and were awaiting Presidential assent.
He named them as the Marine Pollution Bill, the Ghana Shipping (Training, certification and watch keeping for seafarers) and the Ghana Shipping regulations.
He explained that the Maritime Pollution Bill sought to provide a legal framework for the prevention and control of maritime source pollution in general and consolidate the major conventions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Mr Kwetey said the Ghana Shipping Law provided standards for the training and certification of seafarers.
Railway sub-sector
On the railway sub-sector, he said work on the Sekondi-Takoradi via Kojokrom sub-urban railway line was 80 per cent complete.
He explained that the project would improve commuter services between the twin cities, reduce congestion on the road and also provide a rail link from the Takoradi Port to a container depot at the Sekondi Railway Station area to ease congestion at the Takoradi Port.
Mr Kwetey indicated that the ministry was seeking other sources of funding to reconstruct the remaining Western Rail line and the reconstruction of the Eastern Rail line to link the Boankra Inland Port near Kumasi.
He said feasibility studies had been completed and indicated that a strategic investor would be sought to undertake the project.
