TEMA PORT IS CONGESTED (PAGE 15)

THE importation of vehicles through the Tema Port has increased, with 20,991 vehicles entering the country in the first quarter of this year.
The vehicles include saloon cars, mini buses, buses, trailer units and utility vehicles.
However, clearance of these vehicles has not been consistent with the rate of their importation, thereby creating congestion at the port.
A visit to the port indicated that every available space, including the Jubilee Park and the transit yard, has been filled with cars of various makes and types.
The yard of Safe Bond is filled to capacity with fairly good cars and some damaged ones that need to be cleared but have been left at the mercy of the elements.
It was observed during the visit that most of the cars were overage, some damaged as a result of accidents, while others were rusty.
A source at the port told the Daily Graphic that there were over 5,000 imported containers which were unclaimed over a long period at the dedicated container terminal of the Meridian Port Services Ltd, creating problems for the companies handling new arrival of containers.
Commenting on the situation when contacted, the Public Affairs Manager of the Tema Port, Mrs Esther Gyebi-Donkor, said the port was congested as a result of the unclaimed containers and vehicles.
She said some importers failed to clear their goods after realising that the import duty was beyond what they could afford.
In the case of cars, she said considering the number of cars imported between January and March 2009, the port might become more congested than ever if the rate of imports remained the same.
She said many imported cars and containers had been abandoned because the state of the cars and the cost involved in clearing them discouraged their owners who felt there was no need to clear them anymore.
Mrs Gyebi-Donkor said the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) had no mandate to take any action against the importers who abandoned their containers and cars and only had to wait for the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to take action after three months, as stipulated by law.
She was of the view that a total ban on the importation of such scrap into the country would help maintain a clean environment at the port.
The present system of imposition of penalties, she said, had not achieved the expected objectives.
Mrs Gyebi-Donkor explained that CEPS was the only agency with the mandate to seize over-stayed uncleared containers and vehicles.
She emphasised that the congestion had negatively affected the smooth operations of the GPHA and defeated the objective of making the Tema Port the most preferred in the sub-region.
On the congestion created by the containers, she partly blamed transit containers which were not being moved because the articulated transit truck drivers would not yield to the demand to weigh the trucks to enforce the stipulated permissible axle load weight as the law demanded.
She said the action of the drivers would not affect the port because the law was being enforced in all countries in the sub-region.
Mrs Gyebi-Donkor said some of the truck drivers had refused to cart the goods, thereby delaying the clearance of some of the containers in transit.