Tuesday, February 21, 2017

PRIVATE FIRM TAKES OVER TAKORADI CONTAINER TERMINAL

By William Yaw Owusu
Tuesday, February 2 1,  2017
It has emerged that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has contracted a private company to provide receipt and delivery storage services to shippers who operate at the Takoradi Port.

The contract between GPHA and Ibistek Limited commences on March 6, 2017 and as a result, the GPHA management has announced that 3rd March 2017 will be the last day that importers could take delivery of containers and containerized cargo within the port.

The deal, which was concluded last year on sole-sourcing basis, is causing uneasy calm at the port because the unions claim they were kept out of the whole deal.

On February 13, 2017, the GPHA management confirmed the arrangement when it wrote that “in line with the agreement between GPHA and Ibistek Limited, the authority has licensed Takoradi Container Terminal (TACOTEL) as an inland container terminal to provide receipt, delivery storage services to shippers using Takoradi Port.”

The letter, signed by Richard H. Acquah, Ports Operations Manager for Director of Ports on February 13, 2017 with reference POM/TKI.23/V57, said “TACOTEL is located in the premises of the erstwhile Ghana Primewood Limited on the Takoradi Sekondi Road, and will be responsible for devanning of import containers, as well as receipt of export containers.

The letter said, “All vehicles devanned from containers will be handed over to Safebond Ghana Limited for onward delivery to consignees.”

According to the letter, “TACOTEL will technically be commencing operations on March 6, 2017, and will in the interim, handle import containers only.

“Export containers will continue to be deposited with GPHA in the port by shippers until otherwise directed. Therefore, 3rd March 2017 will be last day that importers can take delivery of their containers and containerized cargo within the port.”

When the deal was reportedly being finalized in November last year, the unions wrote to the management of GPHA, requesting it to furnish them with the contract agreement to enable them to inform the workers, accordingly but the management refused.

On November 24, 2016, the Junior and Senior Staff Unions wrote to the management to furnish them with the contract documents which they said was between the GPHA and Safebond Company Limited (SCL) signed in April 2016, as well as documents covering the agreement between GPHA and Takoradi Container Terminal (TCT) since they claimed it was causing fear and panic among the workers.

According to them, “The sighting of the documents by the unions will allay doubt, fear and suspicion about the intention of management with regards to future dealings of GPHA, SCL and TCT.”

 “It will also help the unions to educate its members on the contract agreements and management’s expectation of workers role as far as these new contracts concerned.

The next day, the management replied the union, stating categorically that they were not going to accede to the request of the unions.

“It is not the practice of management to provide contract documents to staff for review,” the letter said.
“We are unable to accede to your request.”

The unions said, “Money will go to private pockets instead of coming to the state. The company could have done this investment on its own. Why should the state contract huge loans for the port expansion project and turn around to hand over this strategic asset to a private firm after spending so much on the project.”

“If the government, through the GPHA, has been able to carry out this massive expansion of the port without the involvement of private entities, why should the management engage in such bizarre arrangement?” they quizzed.

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