The Minister of Transport, Mr Joseph Bukari Nikpe, has initiated moves to reduce delays in the clearance of containers at the Tema Port as part of efforts to ease congestion and lower costs for businesses and consumers.
The initiative includes closer collaboration among the agencies responsible for inspecting and processing cargo to reduce the length of time containers remain at the port and prevent additional costs, particularly demurrage, from being passed on to businesses and consumers.
Mr Nikpe disclosed this when he paid a working visit to Meridian Port Services (MPS) at the Tema Port yesterday, where he engaged management on measures to speed up container inspection and clearance.
He said the Ministry of Transport would work with the other ministries and agencies involved in cargo clearance to streamline procedures and remove bottlenecks that delayed the movement of goods.
According to him, better coordination among the agencies was critical to ensuring that containers were cleared and moved to their destinations as quickly as possible.
Mr Nikpe stressed that prolonged delays at the port had implications beyond port operations, as additional costs incurred by importers could eventually drive up the prices of goods and services.
As part of the working tour, Mr Nikpe also inspected ongoing rail and port infrastructure works at Mpakadan, which are expected to facilitate the movement of containers from the Tema Port to northern Ghana and landlocked countries that rely on Ghana’s ports.
The Mpakadan rail link is expected to strengthen Ghana’s intermodal transport system by connecting rail and marine transport and providing an alternative means of moving cargo from the Tema Port.
Mr Nikpe commended the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) for the progress made and urged it to work closely with the Volta Lake Transport Limited (VLTL) and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to make the facilities operational as soon as possible.
He stressed that completing the infrastructure alone would not be enough, saying effective collaboration among the institutions involved was necessary to ensure that the investment delivered its intended benefits.
Mr Nikpe said the engagements formed part of broader efforts by the Ministry to identify and remove bottlenecks in the transport and logistics chain and improve the efficiency of cargo movement.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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