Minister directs Tema Port authorities to release all transit trucks

Tema, July 18, GNA - Mr. Joe Gidisu, Minister of Road and Highway on Thursday ordered Tema Port authorities to take immediate steps to release all transit trucks detained at the harbour. He gave the authorities one week, spanning July 17 to July 24 to clear all trucks from the facility.

Mr. Gidisu however, said the affected drivers, had to pay the penalties imposed on them before they could leave to their various destinations.

The Minister gave the directive when he visited the port in the company of his Burkinabe counterpart Mr. Gilbert Noel Queraogo and the Burkinabe Ambassador, Mr. Sini Pierre Sanou.

The Minister's directive followed concerns by neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote' d Ivoire, Togo and Niger whose trucks have been detained at the port for the past three weeks. More than 300 trucks have been detained for exceeding the axle limit.

Mr. Gidisu said in the interim, a task force consisting of personnel of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service and port officials would be set up to speed up the clearance procedure in order to ease congestion at the port.

It would recalled that early this year some Ghanaian transit trucks were detained at the Niger border, for flouting the axle limited control policy which became operational last month. The Burkinabe Ambassador and the Transport Minister lauded Ghana for enforcing the axle load policy. They also thanked Mr. Gidisu for his timely intervention to release the transit trucks.