Minister urges port operators to remove bottlenecks to enhance trade

Tema, May 4, GNA - Madam Dzifa Aku Attivor, Deputy Minister of Transport on Monday underscored the need for stakeholders in the maritime industry to remove bottlenecks that impede trade at the ports for increased revenue generation. She noted that clearing procedures are riddled with bureaucracy and that technologies used in the ports did not encourage information and communication technology (ICT).

Madam Attivor was opening a five-day workshop on the facilitation of the maritime traffic to increase revenue generation for the maritime industry in five West African countries.

She pointed out that delays in clearing of goods at the ports could be eliminated by the use of standardized documentation and electronic systems and impressed on the stakeholders to fully utilize modernized electronic system to reduce costs of doing business.

Captain Beatrice Vormawor, head of Maritime Safety Division of the International Maritime Organisation, expressed concern about safety at the sea ports and called on the stakeholders to ensure tightened security in the ports and on vessels not covered by the SOLAS convention.