Give shippers authority biting teeth – GUTA tells govt

On August 18, 2021, 2:15 PM

The Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA) has asked the government to give the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) the power to punish shipping lines that flout the country’s laws.

GUTA believes an intervention by the government would bring sanity in the sector to boost ease of doing business at the ports.

The President of GUTA, Dr Joseph Obeng, argued that the current system does not allow the GSA to whip recalcitrant companies in line.

Dr Obeng observed that poor supervision has resulted in exorbitant charges by the firms.

“From what is going on now, I don’t think the Ghana Shippers Authority can control them (shipping lines). Most times, they do their best to give directives as to what these shipping companies should do, but they do go by it. It means that maybe there is no law to bite,” he said.

Thus, according to Dr Obeng, the GSA does not have the power to punish shipping lines.

Meanwhile, the Country Director for the Centre for Transport Security Dialogue, Kofi Asante, has urged GUTA to resort to intensified and sustained advocacy, which he believes would resolve the challenges.

According to him, through advocacy, “we can make sure that all these stakeholders in the transport sector from the high to the low will have a certain space to be heard, have their grievances conveyed, and ensure that the sector is profitable”.

They were both speaking in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on Joy FM, August 18, 2021.

In a related development, the managing director of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Michael Achagwe Luguje, has urged indigenous businesses to acquire the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) certificate for their operations.

This, Mr Luguje, said would make them competitive in the global business arena while boosting their image.

Last month, the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) expressed outrage at shipping lines over what they described as illegal and outrageous charges.

The President of GIFF, Mr Edward Akrong, noted that they were experiencing delays and additional costs at the port due to administrative fees, coded invoices, strange claims on container damage, and cargo release processes by the shipping lines.

He added that some shipping lines have resorted to unwarranted deductions from container deposits made without recourse to the trader, “all in the name of frivolous reasons of container damage which they can only verify.

“Interestingly, they decide on their own without any independent checks as to how the so-called damage was done and when it was done and arrive at their own cost to the importer. These charges are un-receipted,” he voiced out.

Addressing the media on the issue, Mr Akrong stated that it was illogical for a shipping line agent to begin counting free days for the trader when the cargo is not at the disposal of the trader’s agent.

Subsequently, he called for a halt to all of such charges by the shipping lines.

Story By Francis Ntow