We’ll cut back on human interface at the Ports – Transport Min-designate

Minister-designate for Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah has said government will review operations at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority(GPHA) by ensuring that it intensifies automation at the Ports and reduce the human interface that often leads to bribery and collusion among stakeholders.

Ghana loses a larger chunk of its import revenue through numerous leakage points along the import processing chain, several investigations have revealed.

The revenue leakages, according to reports are attributable to systemic failure linked directly to the human element and the administrative lapses, more than mechanical inefficiencies in the import processing system.

The Minister-designate appearing before the vetting committee Thursday noted that so long as there are a lot of human interface at the Port, this situation may occur, saying he will lead a reform for operations to be heavy on automation more than human involvement at the ports.

“I think that by this situation, if not completely eliminating you can reduce the level of revenue leakage at the ports,” he told the Appointments Committee.

He also indicated that he intends to segregate container handling from other activities at the ports, in the interest of reducing time and also boosting efficiency in operations.