Tema,(Greater Accra) 4 Nov. Mr. Raymond Chang, out-going Singaporean director of the Tema port, has said Ghana’s ports have the potential to attract more investment looking at the government’s vision 2020 programme. This is because the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), as one of the country’s main engines of growth, has an important role to play in the vision 2020 with the establishment of export processing zones and free zone enclaves in the proposed Tema industrial estates. Mr. Chang was speaking in an interview with the GNA at a reception held in his honour after a year’s contract in Ghana under a bilateral agreement between the governments of Ghana and Singapore. Ghana ports are still leading in the West African sub-region in terms of productivity, organisation, cargo safety and reliability of service but would need more investment in deeper berths for container handling, he said. Mr. Chang suggested the introduction of more computer technology to back operations at the ports to further speed up the productivity of vessels which improved over the last few years. He said the port of Singapore which is one of the leading ports in the world is ready to assist the GPHA in the area of technical expertise, engineering and information technology to improve its operations. Cdr. Kwaku Tsidi Dovlo, director-general of the GPHA, described Mr. Chang as a hard working director who contributed a lot towards the review of the authority’s tariffs in the area of stevedoring and container handling. He said Mr. Chang has given the GPHA a lot of ideas on how to improve performance procedures and how to work out tariffs to enhance revenue and the authority is closely looking at them for implementation.
