GSA wants partnership to deal with uncleared cargo


The Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) plans to institute an Emergency Congestion Reduction Tax Force (ECORT) to deal effectively with the issue of congestion at the port.

The authority is consequently proposing a partnership with the private sector for an arrangement that will rid the ports of uncleared cargo.

“The uncleared cargo list continues to grow and this is choking the ports,” the Chief Executive of GSA, Dr Kofi Mbiah, said at the 6th National Shippers Day in Accra.

According to him, port congestion continues to impact negatively on the industry affecting the competitiveness of shippers and the efficiency of other service providers.

“Government should encourage private sector participation under a public-private partnership arrangement that will deal solely with the auctioning of uncleared cargo including vehicles from the port”.

The National Shippers’ Day, which was on the theme, “Enhancing Shipping Competitiveness: Removing the Obstacles”, is a biannual event instituted in 1997 to create a national platform for interaction among key players in Ghana’s international trade and transport chain, which include ship owners, shippers, port authorities, customs and other ancillary service providers.

It is an occasion that brought stakeholders in the industry to deliberate on issues affecting trade and the transport sectors of the economy. The forum has over the years provided opportunities for importers and exporters to take stock of the performance of the maritime transport industry and to highlight the problems and challenges faced in the shipment of goods to and from Ghana.

The Chief Executive of the authority is upbeat that the creation of a task force will provide an impetus to trade facilitation at the ports. He called for the need for a medium to long-term plan of port development fitted within an integrated trade and transport logistics policy.

The Deputy Minister of Transport, Madam Dzifa Aku Ativor, said the ministry was putting in place measures to address challenges that had the potential of increasing the cost of doing business in Ghana, with negative implications on the national economy.

She said the ministry had been engaging in a series of meetings with the Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana (SOAAG), as part of efforts at tackling the issues.

Also, she said the GSA, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, as key stakeholders in the import/export business, had been directed to engage all relevant actors in the industry, with a view to finding a permanent resolution of the problem of congestion at the seaports.

“Challenging times, it is said, require bold decisions, therefore, [for] its part, the government will continue to pursue reforms that will enhance competitiveness, including the needed improvements in the ports, as national economic infrastructure, to revitalise growth in the industry”.

Ms Ativor said the government was working assiduously to source funds for further expansion of the ports, which would include deepening the draughts of the berths, acquisition of equipment to improve port operations, development of new empty container yards outside the port, all in a bid to reduce the congestion currently being experienced at the ports.

http://www.graphic.com.gh/dailygraphic/index.php