President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pledged to ensure that there are no job losses at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), as a result of the Meridian Ports (MPS) concession agreement.
The assurance follows the President’s consideration of issues raised by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) workers, led by the Maritime and Dock Workers Union (MDU) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
A statement issued by the Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, the Minister of Transport on Friday said this was in line with the President’s commitment to promote economic prosperity, whilst maintaining socio-industrial harmony in Ghana’s port industry.
It said the President further held a meeting with the shareholders of MPS, and obtained their commitment to engage GPHA to ensure adequate revenue generation and job retention on the part of GPHA.
“Whilst pursuing the desired solution, operations in Terminal 3 shall commence with the existing tariffs, whilst the GPHA goes through due process with the relevant stakeholders for any tariff increase, ” it said.
In view of the above, the statement said all parties were committed to the successful opening and smooth operations of Terminal 3.
The Terminal 3, is part of the Tema Port Expansion project, a public-private partnership between the GPHA and MPS to provide efficient port services for importers and exporters across the West African coastline and boost revenue generation.
The fully-automated terminal estimated at US$1.5 billion has the capacity to accommodate two million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) containers, up from the previous 820,000 TEUs.
It will operate a twenty-four seven customer service and would be one of the largest container terminals in Africa, capable of providing 16 different port services.
The project sparked agitation from workers over fears of retrenchment that could affect about 1,784 workforce from both Tema and Takoradi Ports.
BY TIMES REPORTER
