Transport Ministry pledges to support GMA enhance maritime safety

The Ministry of Transport has pledged to support the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) to enhance safety and security in the maritime sector.

The sector Minister, Mr Fifi Fiave Kwetey, said the role of the authority was becoming increasingly important, as national marine transport continued to gain ground.

He, therefore, appealed to the staff, the board and the management of the GMA to ensure the highest level of efficiency in the discharge of their duties.

Mr Kwetey made the pledge when a delegation from the ministry paid a working visit to the authority to officially introduce the minister to the staff and the management.

Mr Kwetey was appointed Minister of Transport in January 2016 to succeed Mrs  Dzifa Aku Attivor who resigned on December 23, 2015 over the controversial GH¢3.6 million cedi Metro Mass bus rebranding deal.

The visit was also a platform for the minister to interact with the staff and the management of the GMA and familiarise himself with their operations and challenges.

Further deliberations 

Mr Kwetey said the ministry’s doors would always be opened to the authority for further deliberations to enhance its operations to achieve its vision.

The Director General of the GMA, Reverend Dr Peter Issaka Azuma, briefed the minister on the operations and challenges of the authority.

Key among the constraints facing the authority, he said, was the lack of patrol boats to enhance safety on inland waters and adequate office space to support its operations. 

He recommended that the ministry collaborated with the Ministry of Roads and Highways to seek donor funding to enhance transportation on the Volta Lake.

“We will continue to work relentlessly to deliver with excellence the authority’s vision, which is to ensure that the seas and inland waters of Ghana are safe, clean and secure and to facilitate the contribution of these assets to national, economic and social development,” he said.

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