The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) would need 308 million dollars for the expansion of the Tema and Takoradi ports, Mr Edward A. Kwakye, Director of Planning of the Ministry of Roads and Transport said on Tuesday.
Funding of the projects to be undertaken in phases, would be sought from the donor communities after the stakeholders had made inputs into the draft of the, "Master Development Plans of Ghana Seaports".
Stakeholders discussed the report, which the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) prepared, at a workshop organised by the GPHA in conjunction with JICA.
The 37 participating organisations included Ministries of Roads and Transport, Trade and Industry, Food and Agriculture, Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport, Tema Municipal and Takoradi Metropolitan Assemblies, Ship owners and Agents Association, Customs, excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Shippers' Council and the World Bank among other institutions.
Mr Kwakye said as part of Ghana's Vision to be the port of preference within the West Africa Sub-region and in line with the government's port development policy, the GPHA had embarked on a number of institutional, organisational and infrastructure projects aimed at increasing efficiency to facilitate and promote trade.
Mr Kwakye said the maritime industry played an important role in the country's economy, because 90 per cent of trade in Ghana was sea bound hence the need to involve all the stakeholders before its approval.
Mr Ben Owusu-Mensah, Director-General of GPHA, in a welcoming address said the workshop was to serve as public hearing of the draft for the two seaports expansion plans and told stakeholders that their contributions would be included in the final report.
He referred to the assistance that JICA had offered to the port by improving the facilities at the Tema Fishing Harbour and the provision of the Takoradi Fishing Harbour.
Mr Owusu-Mensah said it was their intention to market the final report to the business community to enable them to see where they could fit in to offer the necessary contributions.
The report, which was started in 2000, covered the master plan for Takoradi and Tema ports, short-term development of the two ports, implementation programme, cost estimation, economic analysis, financial analysis and environmental impact assessment.
