The General Manager in charge of Technical Administration of Ghana Community Network Services, (GCNet) Carl Sackey, has indicated that his outfit plans to introduce a more sophisticated tracking device on transit cargoes.
“We are still evaluating other devices as well. We are trying them on a few vehicles with different cables over a period of time, before we take the investment decision,” he said in a discussion with GPHA’s Eye on Port.
This, he said, was to help secure government revenue from unscrupulous individuals or syndicates who have resorted to manipulating the existing system to divert cargoes onto the domestic market.
Last year, GRA Customs fell short of its revenue target by more than GH¢2billion, and almost 70 percent of that loss was attributed to the transit trade sector according to the Commissioner of Customs, Isaac Crentsil.
Unfair practices, including the diversion of goods and the non-declaration of goods that are originally meant for transit but eventually find their way onto the domestic market, accounted for that loss.
Mr. Sackey also expressed support for containerized cargo to be used for the transit business as it better accommodates tracking devices, and asked for governmental support to enforce interstate transit laws.
“There are particular types of cargo that are not supposed to go on flat bed. We are not enforcing the law,” he lamented.