Engineer Mark Amoahmah has been sworn in as the new President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Ghana
The ceremony which was under the theme “The Current Challenges of the Shipping Industry and Its Impact on Ghana” also saw the induction of the 7th Governing Council of the Institute to steer the affairs of the Institute for the next 2years.
The chairman of the Ghana Chamber of Shipping, Ben Owusu Mensah, enumerated some issues confronting the shipping industry and called on government to put in place a national shipping policy to help tackle some of the challenges in the shipping industry.
Mr. Owusu Mensah bemoaned, “the transport cost of imports transiting our ports are high. Take a look at the multiplicity of taxes importers have to face at our ports. Also, take a look at how foreign lines dominate in landside activities like shipping agency and freight forwarding which must be the preserve of indigenous Ghanaians. All these exist because the nation lacks a comprehensive shipping or maritime transport policy to address these issues.”
He also called for collaboration between the CILT Ghana and the Ghana Chamber of Shipping to help proffer some solutions to the Challenges confronting the shipping industry.
The new President of CILT Ghana, Engineer Mark Amoamah assured to work tirelessly to uplift the institute’s progress to a higher pedestal to ensure the advancement of supply chain, logistics and transport in the country and beyond.
He said, “we hope to extend the professional boundaries of our influence and traverse unchartered territories.”
The Director General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Michael Luguje who was the keynote speaker bemoaned the fact that containers have been stuck at the ports and terminals for over 2years which has contributed to the high cost of freight rates.
He charged stakeholders to play their expected roles to ensure that these containers are cleared and returned to the shipping lines.
Michael Luguje and the CEO of Conship, MacDonald Vasnani were later inducted into the fellowship of CILT Ghana.