The Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Mr. Michael Luguje, has revealed that the Authority will be taking delivery of two new mobile harbour cranes in the first quarter of 2021, to augment its fleet so as to provide better container handling services to customers at the Port of Tema.
According to him, the Port Authority was committed to delivering efficient port services to its stakeholders, which include shipping lines that call the ports of Ghana.
The Director-General, in a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Port of Keta, Dr. Alexander Adusei, at the GPHA Thanksgiving Service, also urged the staff of the Authority to continue to give off their best in the discharge of their duties.
He commended the President of the Republic for his swift intervention in ensuring that the handling of reefer containers at the Port of Tema returned to GPHA.
“When the Ghana Revenue Authority argued that reefer containers were not secured enough within GPHA facilities and issued a directive for the containers to be handled by MPS at Terminal 3, the President, once again, listened to GPHA management and labour and intervened, and today GPHA is handling fully all reefer containers and all other containers that are meant for Golden Jubilee Terminal,” he said.
The Director of Port of Tema, Mrs. Sandra Opoku, said in spite of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on port business, the Authority, through the tireless efforts of the Board, management and staff, remained focused to pursue its vision of becoming the trade and logistics hub of West Africa.
“When reflecting on a worse situation, we still have to fight to learn something from it and be grateful,” she said.
She commended the stakeholders of the Port Authority for their immense contribution towards ensuring that operations weren’t interrupted despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
She stressed the need for the port community to be thankful to God for the year 2020.
“The maritime industry, thankfully, was not so severely affected as we feared, and God has blessed the work of our hands. Last year, GPHA handled more container vessels at Terminal Two,” she disclosed.
The annual thanksgiving service was to appreciate the goodness of the Lord for a successful year, 2020.
Despite the Covid-19 challenges that bedeviled the year 2020, the staff of GPHA shared the moment of worship and thanksgiving with other stakeholder organisations which have collaborated consistently with the Port Authority in the day-to-day activities within Ghana’s port and maritime industry.
Led by the veteran Ghanaian female musical trio, Daughters of Glorious Jesus, the staff sang and danced away their gratitude in praises while enjoying some hymns from the GPHA Choir.
In a related development, Mr. Michael Luguje is assuring stakeholders in the port industry of enhanced infrastructure to facilitate easy and cost efficient means of clearing goods at Ghana’s ports in this year, 2021.
According to him, even though the year 2020 was a difficult one due to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the port community managed to sail through as a result of what he described as a “collective performance of all employees.”
Speaking in a New Year message to the staff of GPHA and the port community, Mr. Luguje commended them for their tireless efforts in ensuring that the sector thrived under the pandemic.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Habours Authority, I will like to wish all employees, stakeholders, customers, port users and sister agencies a happy 2021,” he said.
He added that in 2021, “the Authority wishes to assure all stakeholders that, it will continue to do everything in its power to achieve higher efficiency in productivity.”
He said Ghana’s ports remain the logistics hub of West Africa as the Authority works towards achieving an Africa-wide logistic hub, with Ghana being the focal point.
Touching on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which commenced on 1st January, 2021, the GPHA boss advised all stakeholders to take advantage of the Continental Free Trade Area and grow their businesses further to improve the economy.
“We should celebrate the fact that Ghana has the honour of hosting the African Continental Free Trade Area, and we are looking forward to the role each and everyone is to play as ports and as stakeholders to take advantage,” the D.G. of GPHA asserted.
The post GPHA to take delivery of new equipment in first quarter of 2021 appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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