GPHA urges females to partake in Maritime courses

Tema, April 2, GNA – Mrs Florence Essel, Assistant General Manager in Charge of Administration, Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) has sounded the alarm trumpet to encourage more females to partake in maritime courses to operate equally within a male-dominated field.

She said the maritime industry was a men-related field because of the nature of the work adding that however technological advancement had made it easier for women to handle some of the heavy-duty machines at the workplace.
Mrs Essel stated this at the eleventh monthly stakeholder engagement seminar organized by the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office which is a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues.
It was also used to climax the GNA Tema Regional Office’s month-long activities to mark the 2022 International Women’s Day celebration and mark the first anniversary of the stakeholder engagement.
Speaking on the topic: “Prospects of women in the blue economy: Women’s contribution to the GPHA’s 60 years of operation,” Mrs Essel said societal classification of jobs in the past made it difficult for the female to venture into the male-dominated fields.
She also noted that some of the machines and other operational mechanisms made it virtually impossible for a female to enter those fields in the past but now the situation is changing.
It was difficult for young girls to participate in Maritime courses due to the risks involved, sea-related work is difficult since it is associated with technical machinery where lots of risks are involved.
Mrs Essel said that in recent times, women have participated in these courses and have made immense contributions to the GPHA.
Stressing on women’s contribution to the growth of GPHA, Mrs Essel said, “more women have been trained in IT and machine operations to be able to operate the various modern equipment at the ports”.
She said 16 per cent of the entire staff at the GPHA are females adding that their Transit Area is also headed by a female while some females work at the Management Departments.
Her data shows that two females work at the Machine Operation Field, five at the Engineering Facility, three at the Technical Engineering Field, and 35 at the Head of Department Field.
She said formally that all the fields were managed by men only and encouraged young females to rise and enter the field of work, to balance the number workforce.
Mrs Essel said other foreign institutions take advantage to train more females on scholarship courses to be able to reach higher heights.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Manager in his remarks commended the GPHA for opening the workspace for women’s penetration into the male-dominated field.
He revealed that technology had virtually balanced the workspace, “works that in the past demanded physical manpower had changed as machines are now being used to manage these, this makes it flexible for the female to also operate it.”
Mrs Sika Ramatu Lawson, a Project Electrical Engineer at the Department of Electrical Engineer at Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) spoke on “Prospects of women in the oil refinery sector: Women’s contribution to the success story of the Tema Oil Refinery,” said the refinery which was a purely engineering-oriented field of work, was male-dominated as fewer women study and worked in that area.
Mrs Cynthia Kwarteng Tufuor, the Area Manager for Tema Region of SIC Insurance Company speaking on “Prospects of women in the insurance industry: Women’s contribution to the SIC Mission,” said women form about 60 per cent of the workforce of SIC Insurance but occupy 35 per cent of leadership positions.