Take steps to reduce road barriers - Acting IGP

The acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor, has asked police commanders to adopt effective strategies to reduce road blocks and barriers along the transit corridors without compromising security.

This comes amid concerns about the decline in volumes of transit cargo through the nation’s seaports due mainly to harassment, extortion and delays on the roads.

The acting IGP noted that road transport, was no longer merely a mode of transport but more importantly “a production tool for the nation”.

“It must therefore be promoted and further facilitated to guarantee quicker economic integration and trade development”, he added.

He said this in an address read for him at a day’s forum on road governance held in Kumasi for police commanders to deliberate on ways to improve competitiveness on the ECOWAS transit corridors.

It was meant to engage them and find ways to address specific challenges on the Tema-Paga corridor - the many check points, hampering free trade.

The forum was jointly organized by GSA, the Tema Port and Borderless Alliance, a private sector-led advocacy platform.

Mr. Kudalor underlined that instruction had been given directing officers and men of the police service not to stop goods in transit.

He spoke of their determination to ensure that personnel detailed on duty exhibited high sense of professionalism in the performance of their duties.

The police should not be seen as an impediment in efforts at ensuring that the nation derived its fair share of the benefits of international trade.

Dr. Kofi Mbiah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA), earlier complained about the substantial drop in the volumes of transit cargo, something which was depriving the national economy of vital resources for economic development.

Since year 2009, transit volumes through the ports of Ghana had seen a 40 per cent reduction - a fall from over 850,000 tons to 520,000 tons, last year.

He made reference to road verification trips conducted by the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority and the Borderless Alliance at the beginning of the year that showed that there were as many as 45 checkpoints manned by the police and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

These he said, had become a source of delays and a cost to transporters.