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Government to employ independent surveyor at Takoradi Port for manganese export

By
Godwill Arthur-Mensah,GNA

Takoradi, Oct. 15,
GNA – Mr Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources on
Tuesday announced plans by government to secure the services of an independent
surveyor to verify the tonnages of manganese and bauxite shipped outside.

Currently, the
Takoradi Port, where the minerals were shipped outside, did not have an
independent conveyor surveyor but relied on assessment reports from the Cargo
Owners, Ship Owners Association Independent Survey Report and the Bill of
Ladens issued by the captain of the ship that will convey the commodity to the
final destination.

This, the Minister,
believed was not good enough for government to independently ascertain the
correct figures or accurate tonnages exported by the Ghana Manganese Company
(GMC) and the Ghana Bauxite Company (GBC).

On August 5, this
year, the Sector Minister ordered the shutdown of the Ghana Manganese Company
for alleged financial and operational breaches following the outcome of a
Financial and Technical Audit undertaken by the Ministry.

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh
made this known during a working visit to the Takoradi Port, in the Western
Region on Tuesday, to see at first-hand how the minerals are loaded onto cargo
vessels.

The Minister was
accompanied by Mr Addae Antwi Boasiako, the Chief Executive Officer of the
Minerals Commission and Mr Kofi Agyei, the Chief Inspector of Mines as well as
some selected journalists.

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh
said Cabinet earlier this year set the cap on the export of manganese at five
million metric tonnes in order to safeguard the exploitation of the commodity.

Additionally, it
would enable the nation to retain significant quantities of the commodity for
local industries that are being set up to process the commodity locally, in
consonance with the government’s industrialization agenda.

According to
statistics presented by Mr Robert Opoku, Traffic Officer at the Takoradi Port,
in charge of Monitoring, on export of manganese and bauxite from January to
September, this year, showed that a total of 4,960,654 metric tonnes of
manganese and 798,299 metric tonnes of bauxite had been shipped.

Per the statistics,
it implied that the GMC has less than 40,000 metric tonnes of manganese to
export this year.

The Sector Minister
noted that the quantities of manganese shipped as at the third quarter of the
year represented 81 per cent, compared to last year’s figure of 71 per cent for
the entire year.

The GMC announced
plans to export 7.5 million metric tonnes of manganese this year, but the
government kicked against the move and capped the figure to five million metric
tonnes.

Meanwhile, Captain
James R. Quayson, the Takoradi Port Harbour Master was not happy with the
capping of manganese since it would negatively affect the cargo traffic of the
port and eventually reduce its revenue generation.

He said export of
manganese and bauxite constituted about 80 per cent of the total export of the
Port.

Takoradi Port was
constructed by the British Colonial Administration in 1928 as the hub for the
export of minerals and major commodities.

The Port is
currently undergoing major expansion works to accommodate bigger vessels and
enhance its export capacity.

The Minister and his
entourage visited the temporary dumping site for manganese, the Manganese
Wharf, and the New Bulk Jetty, as well as a 45-minutes cruise offshore to the
Gdsanxk Vessel.

The team also
inspected a site secured by the Ministry at Apemanim in the Ahanta West District
for the construction of a weigh bridge.

GNA

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