The Maritime and Dockworkers Union (MDU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) is seeking urgent action from the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the review of the concession agreement that has been granted to the Meridian Port Services (MPS).
A petition to the president, signed by the General Secretary of the union, Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, indicated that the renegotiation of the deal was necessary to protect jobs, local businesses and the interest of Ghana.
“The current structure of the concession agreement would result in the new terminal operating more as an enclave with minimal economic benefits to Ghana and increased socio-economic burden in the form of collapse of local businesses and massive job losses.
This is contrary to the claim that the MPS Tema Port Expansion Project would yield massive economic and social benefits to our nation.
We have no doubt that the renegotiation of the MPS agreement would go a long way to support the achievement of the government’s vision of Ghana beyond aid and we count on your commitment in this regard,” the petition letter read.
It added: “The Deed of the Amendment GPHA grants the right to MPS to adjust the tariff based on a predetermined formula in the Deed of Amendment without having to obtain approval from GPHA which is the regulator.
This waters down the regulatory function of GPHA in the setting of tariff for port operators and undermines our national laws.”
The TUC, in its 2018 State of the Nation Address, had equally signaled the weaknesses in the MPS concession agreement and the urgent need for its renegotiation.
They warned that the contract, in its current form, would translate into massive job losses in the maritime industry which is already grappling with redundancies as a result of registering many stevedore and shore handling companies.
According to the MDU, some maritime companies have indicated their intentions to the MDU to declare some workers redundant when the MPS project becomes operational in June 2019.
These issues, the union says, have created anxiety among maritime employees especially workers of GPHA, Terminal Operators, Ghana Dock Labour Company (GDLC), Stevedore Companies, Inland Container Terminal (ICDs) etc.
The Tema Port expansion project has already benefitted from a waiver of tax/import duties of US$832 million even though the project cost has been reevaluated from the initial US$1.5billion to currently US$ 1.1 billion.
The MDU said “with the level of tax waiver of US$ 832 million and an investment cost of US$1.1 billion, we can safely conclude that the project has been funded by Ghanaian tax payers and that is enough justification for the renegotiation of the concession agreement to protect jobs and businesses of Ghanaians.”
There are indications that GPHA alone may sack about 1,400 workers in 2019, as a result of the MPS monopoly at the Tema Port.
Mr. Owusu-Koranteng indicated: “If the contract is not reviewed and MPS commences operation in the new terminal in June 2019, government and GPHA will surely lose millions of US dollars in revenue, in addition to over US 800 million granted to MPS in tax concessions.
We are therefore not only concerned about the massive job losses that would result from the operations of the new Container Terminal by MPS but also the huge losses in government revenue.”