The Ghana Union of Traders Association has bemoaned high fees charged by agencies at the ports of Ghana, saying it has a rippling effect on the trade economy of the nation.
“The shipping charges are too astronomical because currently as I speak not a single trader is happy with the charges at Tema Port.
We have had many meetings with the finance ministry and they will tell you that we need money and because they need money traders are suffering,” the Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the GUTA, Nana Poku, lamented.
The Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the Traders Association, Nana Poku, addressing the challenges traders face in the country, on the Eye on Port program, said some of the fees charged by service providers, especially that of shipping lines are not regulated.
He therefore called on statutory heads, especially the Ghana Shippers Authority who should advocate on their behalf to take on the responsibility to correct the deficiencies.
“This is where government should sit down and look into this; make sure Ghana Shippers Authority is well empowered to bring such companies to book,” he admonished.
The Head of Shipper Services at the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, Naa Densua Aryeetey said her outfit with the mandate to advocate for shippers is faced with challenges when it comes to ensuring a cost-efficient environment for shippers in the country due to resistance from agencies who offer services at the port.
“It’s a very thorny issue. And we have had difficulty sitting down with the shipping lines to do that,” she revealed.
According to her, the existing legislation the Shippers’ Authority Acts, allows the agency to negotiate rather than enforce, and stated the need for new laws to back the Authority’s mandate.
“Both of you have said that the Ghana Shippers Authority needs to be empowered and it’s the fact. We need to look at the law again, the law came out as far back as 1974,” she suggested.
She however disclosed that her outfit embarks on constant sensitization programs with traders, to educate them on reforms and developments in the sector as well as publish the fees and charges on the Shippers’ Authority website to keep in close communication with clients of the port.