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Creating employment at the Ports -MPs set the pace

Meridian Ports Services (MPS), a container terminal operator, has embarked on a drive to create more employment at the port.

The company, a joint venture company between the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) and Meridian Port Holdings - a partnership between Bolloré Africa Logistics and APM Terminals as principal investors, has, therefore, in the last year, expanded its capacity through massive investments.

The expansion, according to Mr Alfred Komladzei, Head of Human Resources of the company, has resulted in the creation of a significant number of new jobs.

A major component of the job creation effort is the development of the company’s terminal facility to an international standard.

Mr Komladzei said numerous recruitment drives have been undertaken and to date, the company’s staff strength stands at 440, an increase of more than 100 per cent in the last five years.

“In addition to this, MPS also employs approximately 200 people through its sub-contractors and offers opportunities to young, budding Ghanaian professionals to develop their skills by taking undergraduates from institutions such as KNUST, the Maritime University, Cape Coast University and the University of Ghana on attachments across its various functions.

“A good number of candidates from the National Service scheme are also taken on board annually,” he said.

Mr Komladzei emphasised that “ensuring recruitment of the right kind of people and developing their skill is key to the company’s success,” as it operated sophisticated container handling equipment which demanded very high skill levels.

According to him, MPS believes that the success of the company depends on the human resource and, therefore, continues to improve work skill levels through foreign and local training for its personnel.

“For our technical staff, we arranged for training programmes conducted by Kone Cranes- manufacturers of the newly imported Rubber-Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes.

Similar training was also held to improve knowledge of our technicians on the Gottwald Cranes,” said Mr Komladzei.

The company, he said, also encouraged its employees to take up work study programmes geared towards improving the operational skills of the workforce and ultimately to boost Ghanaian talent.

He indicated that MPS had further launched and is implementing a visual health and safety campaign across the MPS premises in Tema.

“We consider health, safety, security and environment as paramount at MPS. We,therefore, ensure that all employees go through a safety induction and orientation,” Mr Komladzei added.

Daily Graphic/Ghana

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