President Mahama bemoans delays at ports

President John Dramani Mahama on Friday bemoaned the bureaucratic attitude of workers that had resulted into ‘unacceptable’ delays at the country’s ports and harbour.

He regretted that Ghana’s ports that had a commanding lead in the West African sub-region years ago was now trailing behind Ivory Coast and Togo.

President Mahama expressed this regret when he addressed workers of the Tema Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority as part of his working visit to the Tema Harbour.

He also inspected the container deports of the harbour to assess the extent of congestions that people complained of at the area.

President Mahama called for cooperation and synchronisation of activities that would totally eliminate delays to offer better services to people doing business at the country’s ports and harbours.

“No company can achieve anything here in isolation and I therefore want to urge all the agencies here to collaborate and harmonise your activities to achieve the country’s revenue demands.”

President Mahama also expressed dissatisfaction at the alleged numerous charges at the ports, which he said was scaring so many people from doing business in Ghana’s entry-points.

He also gave the assurance that government would review the regulations on bonded warehousing to bring adequate and substantial revenue to the country in the coming years.

He promised that his administration would provide all the necessary logistics and infrastructure to facilitate their performance.

Mr David Apronti, Commissioner of Customs Division of the GRA said his outfit collected 17 per cent of the GRA national revenue and gave the assurance that they would step up their performance.

He said they had put in measures that would return Ghana as the best destination for imports and exports in succeeding years.

Source: GNA