Prez Mahama inaugurates GPHA projects

The president, Mr John Mahama, yesterday inaugurated six new projects at the Tema Port, with a call on stakeholders in the maritime industry to support the implementation of the national single window project to ensure that fees and charges at the country’s ports were rationalised to reduce the payment of multiple fees and charges.

He indicated that there had been complaints of petty charges adding up to make the cost of business high,saying: “I will urge the ministry to sit with all stakeholders and ensure the single window implementation to rationalise the processes as a way of bringing a breather to importers, agents and the trading public.”

The projects are the fishing mending wharf at the Tema Fishing Harbour, the $132-million bulk cargo jetty, two Liebherr cranes valued at €11.4 million, a new central revenue block, two tug boats and two marine crafts.

President Mahama also inspected work on the harbour expansion project and the 130-bed international maritime hospital being constructed at a cost of $23 million.

President Mahama said the ability of the Tema Port to handle more cargo, thereby making it the most competitive port along the African coast would stem from the availability of efficient services.

President Mahama being conducted round facilities at the new revenue centre by Mr Richard A.Y Anamoo, Director General, GPHA after the inauguration.

Fishing season

Addressing fisher folk and a large number of NDC faithful at the Fishing Harbour, President Mahama announced that with the fishing season about to commence, the government had tasked the Premix Fuel Allocation Committee to increase the quantity of premix to all landing beaches.

The government, he said, had made available more than 1,500 outboard motors at subsidised prices to fishermen and canoe owners wishing to acquire new outboard motors.

The distribution, he said, was ongoing and asked those interested to contact their local representatives.

Similarly, he said, the government was providing aluminium pans and fish smoking nets to women fishmongers, since they were the anchor of the fishing industry.

President Mahama (right) being assisted to by Nii Adjietey Mator (in cloth)Chief Fisherman at the Tema Fishing Habour to mend a fishing net after inaugurating the net mending wharf at the Port. Others with them are some fisher folks.

SOEs

The President, who spoke highly of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), impressed on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to become financially self-sufficient, instead of relying on the government for funding and adding to the national debt stock.

“I believe if SOEs are under good management, they can run as efficiently as private enterprises and this is what we expect of SOEs,” he added.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Director General of the GPHA, Mr Richard Anamoo, said the decision by the authority to develop facilities such as a hospital stemmed from the high level of trauma cases that were often recorded in the line of duty of some of the workers.