The Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, Samson Asaki Awiingobit, has stated that the arbitrary increment in port charges will drive up the cost of doing business at the country’s ports compared with other sister port nations in the sub-region.
He has therefore chastised shipping lines for their excessive rise in charges at following the introduction of new fees and charges by the port operator, GPHA.
Shipping charges from companies like PIL which is currently USD 77 will now be USD 132, Maersk Line is currently USD 61 and will be USD 125, MSC is currently USD 65 and it will move to USD 120 and Grimaldi’s charges will move from USD 55 to USD 155.
Mr. Awiingobit warned that the practice where shipping lines operating in Ghana just increase their charges without recourse to authority and regulations in Ghana is extremely unacceptable, illegal, and making doing business in Ghana unattractive.
He said currently there is no agency that is clothed with the powers to challenge actions of shipping lines, which is a situation that has made them unacceptably powerful and negatively influencing trading in Ghana.
Mr. Asaki said as a matter of urgency the Ministry of Transport must intervene in the matter and call the shipping lines to order or importers and exporters will refuse to pay the charges and Trading in Ghana will suffer.