Tema raises concern as MPS calls for 11% increase in handling charges

Company News from Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-06-11

Meridian Port Services (MPS) rate increase requests from the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority (GPHA) are adding to the tensions related to the commissioning of the new terminal as of June 28, 2019.

The MPS, which, in accordance with a concession contract signed in 2015, should resume the activities of the Port of Tema, asks the GPHA to adjust the container handling fees by 11%.

The concern of the port workers was aroused by a letter from the MPS addressed to the Director General of the GPHA, Mr Michael Luguje, whose copy the Daily Graphic took note, asking the authority to grant an increase of 11 per cent in port tariffs, including maritime. , freight charges and terminal charges, to reflect the terms of the concession agreement and the contract, after previously imposing an additional 9.1% increase in port user rights processing fees.

The letter, signed by the Director General of Finance of the Public Ministry, Mr. Sunil Bansal, on May 24, 2019, indicated that the rates for the new terminal had been established in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of June 12, 2015 and that therefore wishes the GPHA to accede to the request within the deadlines provided for in the initial concession agreement.

Rates cover container handling fees, vessel docking fees and other port usage fees.

Some port users said that once implemented, this would increase the overall cost of Tema port's commercial activities.

MPS

In the letter, the MPS submitted that, given the fact that the new terminal would come into operation on June 28, 2019, the application should be accepted at an early stage to allow users of the port to get used to it.

Similarly, the granting of the remaining percentage should allow the company to start recovering its investments.

While stakeholders questioned the timing of tariff increases as a result of measures taken by the government to review parts of the agreement, MPS President and CEO, Mohammed Samara, maintained that the proposal was the subject of discussion. between society and GPHA.

"Honestly, I do not think it's appropriate to discuss this issue while the problem is under discussion with the GPHA," he said in a terse response to the Daily Graphic when he said asked for clarification on the problem.

Context

The MPS contract provided for an increase in container handling rates of up to 20% when the new terminal, Terminal 3, was opened.

The GPHA workers say that the concessionaire must wait for the president's office to follow up on his appeal and that of the organized labor movement to review certain aspects of the agreement.

The MPS is already testing the new terminal and testing refrigerated import facilities with several containers positioned as of Friday, 7 June.

With this new terminal, the GPHA (Reefer Yard) refrigeration plant (800 equivalent units in equivalent 20) (TEU) could also be hit hard, which would reduce the revenue generated by the port authority.

GRA

The Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Mr. Kofi Nti, also wrote to the MPS and Tema Command of his Customs Division, ordering that no container be forced to leave the new installation from 1 July 2019 without the payment of import duties.

The directive, explain the actors of the port area, has effectively put an end to the transfer of boxes (containers) from the new facility to the terminal Golden Jubilee (GJT) GPHA for purposes of devanning (content badysis) , as well as other Inland Container Deposit (ICD). terminals for storage purposes.

MDU

The leaders of the Union of Port and Maritime Workers (MDU) questioned the merits of the MPS's action, saying that tariff changes should be the subject of consultations with relevant stakeholders .

According to the union, setting rates for the country's ports was a regulatory function performed by the GPHA, in accordance with the PNDC Law 160 of 1986, which governs the construction and commissioning of ports.

MDU Secretary-General Daniel Owusu-Koranteng told Tema's Daily Graphic this weekend that the decision was disappointing, especially since the government had committed to reviewing parts of the concession agreement, which would allow the MPS to set port rates and handle about 95% of all containerized imports calling at the port.

"We have always maintained that the exercise of the regulatory function by the MPS as part of the Terminal 3 concession agreement undermines the laws of Ghana," he said. -he declares.

He also pointed out that the increase requested by the MPS, if granted, would increase the cost of commercial activities in the port and would thus run counter to the government's objective of reducing the cost of doing business in the port. .

He added that since January, when the GPHA had written to inform independent operators of container depots to prepare to retreat or develop new business strategies, about 50 workers of these operators had been dismissed.

In the opinion of Mr. Owusu-Koranteng, the operation of the new container terminal by the MPS would have a negative impact on the living conditions of Ghanaians, stating: "The government should urgently accelerate the procedures with respect to certain renegotiated persons. terms if she started something to this effect.