Ghana installs electronic gate system at ports
The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has introduced an E-Gate System which will electronically monitor all vehicles especially trucks that enter and exit the ports of Ghana.
The move is to facilitate cargo clearance at the ports and eliminate fraudulent agents and documents from the system.
The Marketing and Public Affairs Manager of GPHA, Mr Kumi Adjei-Sam, made this known to the Daily Graphic in Accra.
He said the E-Gate system involved the installation of optical camera recognition systems which would electronically capture the particulars of the vehicles, as well as the number and other physical characteristics of containers.
He said all Forwarding Agents were also being registered and issued with electronic ID cards to eliminate fraudulent agents.
Mr Adjei-Sam indicated that vehicular inflows into the country was on the increase as according to records, an average of 250 vehicles are delivered every day at the GJT alone making it about 1,500 vehicles per week.
He said the GPHA was currently undertaking a number of other innovations to facilitate cargo clearance through the ports and some of these include the installations of Container Terminal Management Systems, Vessels Cargo Management Systems, Automatic Ship Identification System and Enterprise Resource Planning.
He said additionally the GPHA had recruited several IT specialists and trained all staff at the operational document processing areas to ensure the successful implementation of the systems.
The Marketing and Public Affairs Manager said there was now 100 per cent coverage of the port with CCTV cameras to improve security and minimise theft.
He disclosed that nine traffic lights would also be installed at strategic areas in and around the ports to control and regulate vehicular traffic. Six of these had already been installed and are already in use.
Mr Adjei-Sam announced that work would soon commence on the traffic lights at the Tema end of the motorway and all the roundabouts on the access road from the port to the motorway, as well as the community 3 junction, to address the traffic congestions in those areas.
He said management had also come out with a goal of high efficiency in Service Delivery to guide all GPHA’s operations in 2013.
He said the GPHA and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) had held several meetings, as well as with other key stakeholders at the port, to ensure that key challenges that confronted their clients were addressed.
According to him, one of the key outcomes of these interactions was the connection of all state institutions involved in permit issuance for clearance of items through the port to the GCNET platform.
He said this was done in collaboration with GCNET and other stakeholders, adding that other related innovations were improvements in the processes at the scanning operations and the extension of working hours on Saturday and where necessary even on Sundays.
Mr Adjei-Sam said feedback from their clients, especially the Freight Forwarding institutions at the port, indicated that these had greatly facilitated information dissemination and enhanced document processing.
He said the GPHA and the Customs Division of the GRA had over the years, especially within the past two years, collaborated greatly and had already carried out initiatives to enhance and promote the fast handling and processing of cargo through the ports of Ghana.
Source: Daily Graphic