The Ministers of Transport and Trade, Agribusiness and Industry are expected to meet at the Tema Port in the coming days to explore measures to create additional berths for ships carrying clinker, as part of efforts to ease congestion and reduce delays in cargo clearance.
The congestion has delayed the clearance of clinker, leading to demurrage charges for cement manufacturers. The additional costs have been cited as one of the factors contributing to the recent GH¢12 increase in the price of a bag of cement.
Transport Minister, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, speaking on The Point of View on Channel One TV, said the Tema Port is under severe pressure due to limited space and increasing cargo volumes.
“The Cement Manufacturers, their problem is that we have allocated two berths for them. They want more berths so that their income that comes will be cleared quickly. As I mentioned, the containerized cargo has also increased.
“There’s competition for space at the port to be able to serve all our importers. Friday, myself and the Minister for Trade, Honourable Elizabeth will be going to the port to see how we can also see which of the areas we can cede off to support the clearance of the cement raw materials that they are importing so that at least they will not be faced with any damage or any other extra charges,” he noted.
Mr. Nikpe also disclosed that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has been instructed to procure additional cranes to speed up the loading and offloading of cargo at the port.
“I also instructed the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority for them to acquire two cranes that will be able to load and offload quickly so that all the ships or all the shipping lines coming in with cargo would not have any issue in terms of delay that would have caused them to pay demurrage any longer.
“So they are going to do an emergency acquisition of two cranes that will augment already what they have on the ground that will facilitate the loading and offloading of cargo, and it is believed that we will be able to decongest the port,” he noted.
