Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia being taken round the port by Mr. Adorkor and other Customs officials
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated government’s commitment to pursuing new policy to ensure efficient operations at the Tema Port.
According to him, government is determined to creating more throughputs at the ports in order to grow the economy and create jobs for Ghanaians.
He told clearing agents and importers that government would discuss the new policy formulation with the various stakeholders to ensure harmonization.
Dr. Bawumia gave the assurance when he embarked on an unannounced tour of the Tema Port and Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Monday.
“If you have observed what the government of Nana Akufo-Addo is trying to do in this country, the port of Tema Harbour is very key as far as the economy of Ghana is concerned, and so we want to come and have a familiarization tour to look at how to make the port function better and more efficiently.
According to him, since Ghana was in competition with other ports in the sub-region, there was the need to improve the performance of the ports to increase economic activities of the country.
Vice President Bawumia lauded some of the hard working workers at the port, saying “I believe that we can improve a lot on where we are right now because a lot of customers are complaining about high handling charges, high import duties and duties on outboard motors and so on.”
He was confident the new administration would be working with all the stakeholders at the port to ensure quality service delivery to meet the needs of the importers.
Touching on the exchange rate, Dr. Bawumia said “we would be discussing with stakeholders to see whether the exchange rate within the port service should be the same.”
On policing activities there, he noted that there were plans underway to improve the work of personnel.
Commenting on confiscated vehicles and goods, he mentioned that government was considering a policy under which importers would be able to know the amount they would pay before shipping their goods into the country.
The tour begun at the Long Room of the Customs Division after which the Vice President interacted with some clearing agents.
He also held a meeting with the Commissioner Customs at Tema, Confidence Nyadzi.
Dr. Bawumia further moved to the premises of Meridian Port Service (MPS) where he had a meeting with Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Samara concerning the Tema Port Expansion Project after interacting with some workers.
The Vice President also visited Nick Scan where he was taken round by Jacob Adorkor, Director of Tema Port, to see how cargoes were scanned before leaving the port.
He visited the Golden Jubilee Terminal and Atlas Yard where confiscated vehicles and goods are kept.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema
