Ghana’s Ports praised after WeCAPS project

The WeCAPS project, financed by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France is a technical assistance project committed to strengthening the security and safety of port infrastructures in West and Central Africa.

The WeCAPS project in Ghana has ended after 4 years of strong collaboration between the WeCAPS team and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority in key capacity building projects such as crisis management.

To this end, the WeCAPS team has paid a conclusive visit to Management of the Ports of Tema and Takoradi to review the capacity building project.

During the meeting, the Director of the Port of Tema, Sandra Opoku expressed GPHA’s resolve to ensure that vessels who ply their trade in the port are safe.

She said the Port Authority will do this in collaboration with key actors such as the Marine Police and Ghana Navy.

The Harbour Master at the Port of Tema, Capt. Francis Kwesi Micah also indicated that the Authority is keen on advancing its security and safety procedures for smooth maritime operations.

He said the Authority has taken serious consideration into upgrading its cybersecurity systems and Management and Board are taking urgent steps in that direction in line with the company’s ISO objectives.

Capt. Micah expressed that “cybersecurity is something that even the big guns suffer from, but the important thing is to be educated, to be trained or to be exposed to the trends so we can identify quickly and be able to counter. It is important because the consequences are quite high and dire.”

On his part, the Team Lead for the WeCAPS project, Nico Vertongen remarked that Ghana’s ports safety and security systems are among of the best in the region, with little room for improvement.

Nonetheless it is important for the security and safety apparatus in the port to continually improve to minimize risk.