GOVT REVIEWS PORT MASTER PLAN (P.43) 08-09-08

Story: Kofi Yeboah

THE government is reviewing the Ports Master Plan with the aim of modernising the Tema and Takoradi ports to enable them cope with current challenges in the industry.
At the moment, a feasibility study is being undertaken for a new master plan that will among other interventions, increase the capacity of the two ports to accommodate the increasing container traffic.
Under the current Ports Master Plan, the Tema Port, for instance, was projected to hit the 400 margin in terms of container traffic by 2010.
However, by the close of 2006, the port had exceeded that projection, necessitating the review of the master plan to adjust to the increasing volumes of containers and meet emerging challenges in the industry.
The Director of Policy Planning at the Ministry of Harbours and Railways, Mr Justice Amegashie, made this known in Accra last Wednesday at a seminar on the maritime industry organised for journalists.
It was under the joint auspices of the Ghana Shippers’ Council (GSC) and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), with the Ministry of Harbours and Railways and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) as the key collaborators.
The shipping industry plays a critical role in global trade, particularly with respect to cargo transportation.
In 2006, 7.4 billion tonnes of cargo were estimated to have been transported across the world through shipping. In Ghana, in the same year, 14.5 million tonnes of cargo were imported and exported through shipping.
It is in recognition of the critical role shipping plays in the global economy that the United Nations (UN) declared shipping as an important vehicle for growth and development within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Mr Amegashie said under a new Ports Master Plan, the modernisation of the Takoradi Port would take into account the emerging oil industry following the discovery of oil in the Western Region.
Making further comments on the review, the Ports Operations Co-ordinator at the GPHA, Mr Samuel Ntow Kummi, said it was a normal practice in the port industry to periodically review master plans to reflect changes in projections.
He said there was the need for the construction of a second terminal at the Tema Port to enable it to accommodate the increasing container traffic.
Responding to questions on the fate of the Boankra Inland Port, the Deputy Chief Executive of the GSC, Mr Emmanuel Martey, said all the preparatory work on the project had been done, pointing out that the only thing needed now to bring the project to life was a strategic investor.
The Boankra Inland Port project requires a capital injection of $600 million, an amount that has kept the authorities searching for many months for a strategic investor with the requisite financial muscle and technical acumen to bring it into operation.
The port is already linked to the Tema and Takoradi ports by the eastern and western rail lines, but on completion of the project, it is expected to be expanded to become a primary port although its cargo will go through the Tema and Takoradi ports.
For that reason, the completion of the project is expected to decongest the two mother ports and bring huge economic benefits to the nation, particularly in terms of revenue and employment.
So far, the government has had talks with investors from the United Kingdom, Germany and the USA, among others, but none of them has as yet made any positive move.
“They claim they are still studying the documents and talking to their financiers and I think at the appropriate time they will come and talk to us”, Mr Martey indicated.
The Chief Executive Officer of the GSC, Mr Kofi Mbiah, said the emergence of globalisation had made it imperative to encourage a cross fertilisation of ideas between operators in the shipping industry and the media in order to enhance accurate and objective reportage on the industry.
He said the seminar was to enable media practitioners have a deeper understanding of the shipping industry.
The Vice-President of the GJA, Mr Roland Affail Monney, who chaired the seminar, said much as there was the need for democracy to grow, any democracy without strong economic backing was weak and vulnerable.
He encouraged journalists, particularly those who report on business and finance, to go the extra mile to give more analytical information to the public.
Mr Monney further urged the media to show special interest in the activities of the GSC and to forge partnership between the two organisations to accelerate the economic development of the country.