Who laughs finally as MPS and Labor Tango on the concession of the expansion project of Tema Port?

News from Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Source: Ghananewsagency.org

2019-04-30

Huge gantry cranes and salvaged maritime lands greet the eyes when one gets closer to the community of Tema, three apartments of the titanic beach of Sakumono, where revelers bloom and swim in the warm waters of the sea.

On the right side of the community traffic lights, which is on the west side of Tema Harbor, is the Meridian Ports Services (MPS) Project Office for the extension of the current Tema Harbor. execution at a cost of 1.5 billion US dollars.

The project received its second batch of gantry cranes as a result of a purchase agreement signed in August 2017 between Shanghai Shenhua Heavy Industry Co. and MPS for a total of 27 cranes. This was followed by operator training, integrated testing with an expected intensified simulation of four weeks and training for the first phase of the project, which will be fully operational in June 2019.

But the project also cost Ghana's cultural heritage and Ghanaian spirituality and could also stir up workers' agitation to protect workers at Ghana's ports and port authorities.

As I often drive in this area, I can not forget the relaxing times I had at the Ave Maria Resort and Wellness Center, which was razed to make way for the expansion of the harbor. The operators of the station built in 2014 over the sea a first covered walkway of 200 000 dollars in Africa, to attract tourists.

The station, which once hosted Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of England, during her visit to Ghana in 1962 and was also sponsored by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s, was built in the early 1950s by Sir W. Halcrow, consultant badigned to the construction of Tema Harbor, hence the original resort name, Halcrow Beach Club.

This is not just the resort that was unobstructed to give way to the MPS (Terminal Three) Harbor Expansion Project, the Meridian Rock, which was of spiritual and historical significance to Ga's heritage. , which is just a few meters from the sea The resort complex has also been relocated. It has still not been determined whether the site had been moved to another coast or whether it had been dynamited to allow for reclamation.

The meridian is believed to be on the meridian of Greenwich, the world's first meridian for Longitude and Time. It is said that this symbolizes the fact that Tema is in the center of the world, something that natives wanted to develop to attract tourists.

The Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority (GPHA) signed an agreement with the MPS in June 2015 for the subsequent implementation of the Tema Port Expansion Project, which is expected to be completed within three years with the construction of a new 3.85 km breakwater in a dredged channel 19 m deep and 250 m wide, a reclaimed sea of ​​120 hectares and a new 1.4 km wharf for four container stations that can accommodate 16 m of draft.

The 35-year concession agreement is expected to increase Ghana's maritime trade to the extent that it is able to handle post-panamax vessels. The project also includes the upgrading of the six-lane Tema highway with ramps, while the Community Three Sakumono road is also undergoing a facelift.

As the expansion project progresses, the Tema District Labor Council (TDCL), its staff and the Port Workers' Union and the dock and dock workers raise the red flags and raise subject of the concession.

The TDCL members had issued an ultimatum to the government for two weeks to implement the recommendations of a committee created by the economic management team on the instructions of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, charged with the task. review the concession, the shareholding agreement and the structure of Meridian Port Services (MPS). ), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) loan and related agreements related to the Port of Tema Expansion Project.

The unions promised a series of actions to follow up on their request to review the unfavorable terms of the concession, which would give a monopoly to the MPS and result in a mbadive loss of more than 17,000 jobs at the port of Tema.

As the time is approaching for Terminal 3 to become operational in June, workers have become fearful and have chosen not to sit idly by and watch their daily bread ripped off. On April 23, they began a demonstration in red costume, and a petition was presented to the Acting Director General of GPHA. What will be the next action of the workforce against the current concessional agreement between GPHA and MPS?

In a letter dated April 15, 2019, addressed to the Minister of Employment and Labor Relations by the TDCL, "The TDCL wished to express its dissatisfaction with the GPHA Concession Agreement and the MPS limited due to numerous flaws in the agreement, which are unfavorable to workers, detrimental to the GPHA, handling companies, inland container depots, land handling companies, transport companies, among others ".

"It appeared that GPHA had decided to expand and modernize the port of Tema by building a new terminal (Terminal 3). GPHA then began by administering an international procurement process for this purpose. This purchasing process was closed by a presidential decision and the project was entrusted to MPS (which has shown no interest since GPHA began to administer an international procurement process for the construction of a terminal) on a silver tray ".

According to the Board, given that MPS's silver platter project was sweat-free for MPS, "the resulting concession contract is made up of flaws, WINNER TAKES ALL, from MONOPPOLY, regardless of what is going on. negative consequences for the different actors of the maritime industry. ".

"This is the strongest reason why we ask that: the concession contract be reviewed and even less get in the thick of it," adding that if it were not reviewed, it would result in the GPHA, ICDs, Store Locator Companies, Workforce Companies with unutilized labor, unused equipment, available space and less income to pay wages and salaries. other staff salaries, service existing loans, develop port infrastructure. "

Among the defects reported in the concession, there is Clause 3.2 which indicated that the GPHA could not handle vessels carrying more than 200 containers, as any vessel loaded with this quantity of containers would go to MPS Terminal Three.

In addition, GPHA under the concession was to pay MPS 30% of the container revenue it would pay to the terminal from which MPS is currently operating.

They added that, under the contract, MPS would not pay any fees to the GPHA for Terminal 3, even though it would handle almost all the containers going to the port of Tema.

The ministerial review panel reviewing the concession contract, headed by Mr. Daniel Nii Kwatei Titus Glover, called in his report to review parts of the concessions because it indicated that the government should not apply the concession. agreement in its present form.

The report published in February states: "The Committee in Surmary recommended that all agreements, tax exemptions and related protocols be seriously reviewed".

He added that, "In essence, the GPHA-MPH / MPS commitments, if maintained in their current form, are seriously prejudicial to the Government and people of Ghana because of financial implications, concessions, loss of transparency and the ethical discipline of international partners and the threat of monopolistic control of Ghana's main international trade cluster, the Port of Tema.

"Given that GPHA was administering an international procurement process to expand and upgrade the port of Tema, which has come to an end and that the project has been entrusted to MPS / MPH, there is no doubt that MPS commitment must be completely renegotiated. The recommended renegotiation should aim at least to achieve the development objectives of the Port Master Plan, as defined by the GPHA, and to ensure the growth of the enterprise.

Based on the recommendations of the Ministerial Committee's recommendations, it is fair that workers demand revision to ensure that unemployment will not be increased in the country. Revenue from the port must also be preserved so that the Ghana Revenue Authority can bid enough for the government not to provide the necessary development for the Ghanaian people.

According to media reports, the management of MPS rejected the call for a review of the contract, claiming that it was "interference in the investment." Mohammed Samara, its director general, was quoted as saying that those who requested it "want to disrupt development and progress".

In this whole whirlwind of thoughts, words and actions, one question is essential: who will carry the day and have the last word, is it Mr. Samara and his MPS team, or the workers of the GPHA, the unions and other stakeholders who are not enthusiastic? about what awaits the port in June 2019.

One thing I know for sure, is that the TDCL and the unions would not rely on their advances simply because the committee was in agreement with them for a review of the agreement. They will continue to push and push using all possible means to correct defects. They have already done so many times on such critical issues as the decision to sell the ADB bank in 2007.

The government and the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations must act quickly to avoid throwing into turmoil Tema, the port city, which is also the industrial center of Ghana. Let us try to maintain a harmonious and peaceful work environment in the region in order to stimulate business and coexistence between the government and the workers.