Mahama promises to revamp maritime sector
The leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has pledged to revamp the Tema and Takoradi ports to make them competitive.
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That, he explained, would make the ports attract more traffic of vessels and increase revenue for the country.
Habour forum
Speaking at a meeting with stakeholders in the maritime industry in Tema last Tuesday as part of his “Building Ghana Tour”, Mr Mahama stated that the next NDC government would work with all stakeholders in the maritime sector to revive the industry.
The forum, attended by representatives of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, the Customs Brokers Association-Ghana (CUBAG), the National Fisheries Association of Ghana,(NAFAG) and other stakeholders such as Port Workers’ Union from the MPS Terminal 3 in Tema was aimed at soliciting their inputs on matters that affected port operations and trade facilitation with the view of improving the sector when the NDC wins power.
During an open forum, it was revealed by the stakeholders they were confronted with numerous challenges such as the abolishment of taxes on transit goods, removal of shipping line charges, reduction of charges and levies at the ports, port workers welfare issues, inadequate premix fuel, multiple state agencies' procedures and processes involved in port examinations leading to delay, high costs at the port among other challenges.
Mr Mahama noted that for many importers, the issue of clearing goods at the ports seems overbearing, hence some non-banking-financial players would be licensed under his administration to assist importers with the needed funds to clear their goods in a regulated space to ease the burden of clearing goods.
Responding to concerns of the stakeholders such as the GIFF, the CUBAG, the GNAF, Port Workers, Exporters and Importers Association, Mr Mahama pledged to work with freight forwarders to promulgate a Legislative Instrument to regulate the freight forwarding sector as the existing Customs Act was not enough to guide the operations of freight forwarders.
He also promised to work with stakeholders to address challenges with the vexed issue of shipping line charges.
Clergy
The NDC flag bearer early on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, as part of his tour in the Greater Accra Region, interacted with the clergy at the Assemblies of God Auditorium in Tema Community Four, where he reiterated the NDC plan not to abandon projects initiated by the NPP administration if the NDC was voted into power in 2024.
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