Transport Minister pays working visit to GPHA

The Minister of Transport, Kweku Ofori Asiamah has paid a working visit to the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) since assuming office 6months ago.

The Minister was accompanied by the Deputy Transport Minister, Daniel Titus-Glover, Chief Director at the Transport Ministry, Twumasi Ankrah Selby as well as some staff of the Ministry.

They were received by, Board Chairman of GPHA, Peter Mac Manu, the Director General of GPHA, Paul Asare Ansah and his management team.

The visit was to afford the minister and his entourage the opportunity to get themselves acquainted with the operations at the port, especially when the port is expected to go paperless and have a joint inspection by September 1st, 2017.

They first visited the transit terminal where goods meant for the transit trade are loaded and offloaded from containers. The entourage also had a drive through the port where they observed the processes of discharging cargo from vessels.

Meridian Port Services (MPS) was the next point of call by the entourage who were received by the CEO, Mohammed Samara who assured the team that MPS is ready to go paperless anytime.

The Transport Minister and entourage also visited the $1.5billion port expansion site where 1.2kilometers of breakwater has been constructed. Mohammed Samara briefed the team on work done so far and what to be expected.

The entourage also paid a courtesy call on the Tema Mantse, Nii Adjei Kraku II and his elders.

Other places visited included the Tema Fishing Harbour, GPHA data processing center and the International Maritime Hospital where the delegation inspected the facilities at the hospital.

Addressing the media after the tour, Kweku Ofori Asiamah, the Transport Minister expressed content at the progress of work at the Port expansion site, and was hopeful that all actions will be put in place for paperless system and joint inspection by 1st September.

The Ag. General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Esther Gyebi Donkor said the port authority has put in place some initiatives to improve the level of efficiency at Ghana’s ports.