Expansion of the port of Tema: the head of GPHA confirms the possible job losses on the MPS project

Company News of Thursday, February 21, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-02-21

GPHA Chief Executive Michael Luguje confirmed that nearly 1,200 employees of Inland Container Depots (ICD) would be fired after commissioning the Meridian Port Services (MPS) project later this year, 2019.

Mr. Luguje told Bernard Avle, in The Point of View of Citi TV, that it would no longer be necessary to resort to workers, adding that fire alarms had been warned in this regard.
He said, "We allowed them [ICDs] just for 2019 because after 2019, we would not need to transfer boxes to them. "

DCIs were once essential because of port congestion "before the creation of container terminals; before the MPS terminal also appeared.

Once the space at the water's edge was no longer sufficient, the authorities encouraged private sector initiatives, said Michael Luguje.

"If you have riparian lands, you can develop them and come in and we will allow you so that some of the containers that can not go into the existing container storage facility can go into your facilities and so you generate income. But with the establishment of this new terminal that will have excess capacity to transport all the space, the interior containment depots will have more cargo, "he said.

President John Mahama launched the expansion works at Tema Port in 2016.

The project is a public-private partnership between the GPHA, representing the Government of Ghana and MPS, for the improvement and significant expansion of Ghana's main seaport.

The port is expected to be the largest freight port in West Africa and one of the best in Africa, with a capacity of 3.5 million equivalent 20 feet (TEU) per year.
Committee
The Akufo-Addo government set up an interdepartmental review committee in January 2018, headed by a Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr. Daniel Titus-Glover, to evaluate the proposals presented by the GPHA for the examination of the concession of a duration of 35 years. agreement.

The Daily Graphic previously reported that the committee had submitted its recommendations to the government in February 2018 and that a white paper on these recommendations had not yet been released.

According to the newspaper, Mr. Titus-Glover said the committee had recommended reviewing all the work done, as it was not in the interest of the GPHA and the country.

"It was a modified agreement signed under the previous government, it's a bad deal for the port and the whole country and we hope to be able to repair the damage," he said.

Contract agreement

According to Daily Graphic, the amending act gives the MPS the exclusive right to manage eligible vessels such as full container vessels carrying 200 equivalent units (EVP) or more, a situation which, according to many industry players, would have excluded Ghana from these arrangements. .

Likewise, the provisions of the Convention give MPS the right to impose and retain all payments made in respect of vessel fees, as well as the cost of occupying berths.

The agreement also gives MPS the right to charge and retain port dues until the date of discharge of all the concessionaire's obligations under the financing agreements, as confirmed by the lenders.

"As such, 90% of the retention of contributions goes to MPS, while the GPHA holds a 10% stake from the first to the tenth year," the report says.