GRi Business, Economics & Finance 07 –
04 - 2003
Tema (Greater Accra) 07 April 2003-
The Royal Netherlands has so far invested about 350 million dollars in Ghana
for the past 10 years through its ORET Grant Facility. The major areas that
benefited from the facility were urban water supply, road rehabilitation, port
development and public or mass transport systems.
Other areas were the health and
education sectors for diagnostic equipment, physiotherapy services and
vocational training centres.
Wiel was speaking at the sod-cutting
ceremony by President John Agyekum Kufuor for work to begin on the first phase
of the planned transformation of the
The work involves extension of
quay two to re-develop it into a container terminal with the installation of
container cranes with allowable wharf space for break-bulk cargo operation. The
project is estimated at about 60 million dollars and financed by the
It includes extension of the
quay by about 200 metres to provide a total berth length of 570 metres with
11.5 metres draft at the south-end and 240 metres berth length with 11.5 metres
draft at the north-end.
Wiel said
He said other projects
undertaken by the
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Tema (Greater Accra)
President John Agyekum Kufuor,
who announced this at Tema on Friday, said in addition, the government
recognized the crucial role the ports had to play in the economic development
and modernization of the country.
He was cutting the sod for work to
begin on the extension of quay two at the
The project, estimated at about
60 million dollars and being financed by the Dutch government under its ORET
Grant Facility and other private financial institutions. It includes extension
of the quay by about 200 metres to provide a total berth length of 570 metres
with 11.5 metres draft at the south-end and 240 metres berth length with 11.5
metres draft at the north-end.
President Kufuor said the Sector
Minister had been given clear directions to make the new Ministry one of
non-stop action and results were expected. He said, “if
President Kufuor said the once
vibrant railway system had virtually collapsed, the seaports had been run-down
and both equipment and the management style became outdated and outmoded.
"Over the past two decades,
the country has been making attempts to reverse the declining state of affairs
at the seaports. Rapid development in maritime industry requires the provision of
deeper waters at berth, fast loading and unloading cargo handling equipment,
computerization and containerization of ports", he added.
President Kufuor said it was in
the light of government's determination to catch up with the rest of the world
in the ports, harbours and railways sector that with the assistance and support
of the Japanese government through the Japanese International Co-operation
Agency (JICA) a Master Development Plan for the ports of Tema and Takoradi had
been drawn up.
He said it was envisaged that by
the end of the planned programme, the ports would be as modern and efficient as
any other port anywhere in the world, and also be able to handle the expected
growth rate in traffic that is projected to rise five-fold by the year 2010.
President Kufuor said it was
government's policy to help the private sector play a major role in the
development and operation of the ports to meet the increased traffic demand. He
said the project that marked the first phase of the planned transformation of
the Tema port into a major modern container port, the second phase would
involve the creation of additional storage facilities and expanded
containerization and government would look forward for private sector
participation to realize the dream.
President Kufuor said while the
project was on-going at Tema, there would be a simultaneous re-development of
the Takoradi port as well for both ports to have as a modal point, the Boankra Inland port to serve not only the northern half of
the country, but the landlocked neighbours of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
He said, in the long run, there
would be more business opportunities and more jobs created when the ports were
modernized, better managed and run more efficiently. Dr. Richard Winfred Anane,
Minister of Roads and Transport said the cargo allocation system at the ports
was expected to be abolished by July this year and full competitiveness and
private sector participation introduced to promote competition and efficiency
in cargo handling.
He said to safeguard the
investment interests of the private operators, the legal framework for
operating within the ports would be reviewed and a draft bill had been prepared
to be laid before Cabinet for consideration.
Dr Anane said the main thrust of
the bill was to give legal protection to the investments of the private
investors and make the Port Authority the regulator of the port services and
also be responsible for the planning and development of the seaports.
He said eight private stevedoring
companies had been licensed to operate cargo handling services under the cargo allocation
system and that they controlled 75 per cent of the stevedoring activities
whilst the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) managed the remaining 25
per cent.
He said, in government's quest
to make
The Minister of Roads and
Transport said these were to enhance navigation into these ports and another 11
Billion cedis was being spent on the
He said the Ministry was also
pursuing a programme that sought to involve the private sector in the
re-development of the national rail-lines to complement the services provided
by the ports in line with multi-modal transport system.
Dr Anane said to decongest the port, a Devanning Terminal was to
be privately developed to handle all groupage cargoes
and vehicles outside the port. Ben Owusu-Mensah, Director-General of the Ghana
Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) said two major problems facing the Tema
port were large container and bulk vessels queue-up for berths, making these
vessels stay in port for too long durations. The second problem is containers
are stripped on every available space on the terminal, creating space and
container identification problems in the port.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 07 April 2003-
The Ghana Stock Exchange All-Share Index, the main gauge, leaped by more than 23
points on Friday in active trading that saw nine equities making gains.
The Index went up by 23.64
points at 1,687.44 points from 1,663.80 points while change for the year also
rose to 20.94 per cent. There were nine price changes, all positive on a day
when total traded shares slipped to 206,700 from 210,300 shares.
Unilever led the way with a 400
cedis gain at 6,000 cedis followed by SSB Bank, which rose by 200 cedis at
6,600 cedis. The Trust Bank of Gambia gained 100 cedis at 5,000 cedis, Ghana
Commercial Bank was 82 cedis richer at 5,200 cedis, Accra Brewery Limited
gained six cedis at 426 cedis, Ghana Breweries Limited was also six cedis
better at 526 cedis, Home Finance Company gained four cedis at 1,226 cedis,
Patterson Zochonis was two cedis richer at 2,027 and
Mechanical Lloyd inched up by one cedi at 258 cedis. Market capitalisation
ended higher at 7,600.22 billion cedis from 7,542.87 billion cedis.
The following are the last
prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 426 +6
AGC 28,500
ALW 4,000
BAT 1,106
CFAO 67
CPC 630
EIC 5,005
FML 2,009
GBL 526 +6
GCB 5,200 +82
GGL 1,218
HFC 1,225 +4
MGL 28 +1
MLC 310
MOGL 19,751
PAF 750
PBC 390
PZ 2,027 +2
SCB 32,001
SPPC 390
SSB 6,600 +200
SWL 285
TBL 5,000 +100
UNIL 6,000
+400
CMLT 460
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Accra (Greater Accra) 07 April 2003-
The Ada Traditional Council and other stakeholders of
the Ada Songor Lagoon on
Thursday resolved their differences to allow the government go ahead with the
President's Special Initiative (PSI) on Salt in the area.
Nene Korle III, Tekperbiawe
a Divisional Chief of the Ada Traditional Council
announced this in a resolution presented to the Greater Accra Regional
Minister, Sheikh I.C.Quaye at a meeting in
The resolution signed by
fourteen chiefs and three members of the Ada Concerned
Youth Association was the outcome of a meeting held by the Traditional Council
and other stakeholders after their meeting with the Cabinet Select Committee on
the issue.
The Traditional Council and the
other bodies made up of the Ada Cooperative Salt
Miners Union, Ada Concerned Youth Association and Ada Songor Salt Marketing
Association attended the meeting.
Nene Korle III said all the chiefs
and the youth had agreed that there would be no quarrel among them and that none
of the groups would put any stumbling block on the way of the government.
Dr Sandy Puplampu,
spokesman for the Ada Songor
Lagoon Basin Land Owners Committee, who seemed not to be in agreement with some
of the issues, questioned the basis of the agreement.
He said there was the need for
the formation of a technical committee to look into the PSI so that the people
would not be carried into a form of slavery. Nene Oboade I, Development Chief of the area said government
would create other saltpans for the salt miners so that they would not enter
into the areas of the investors. He also disagreed with Dr Puplampu
and questioned, "Who are even the land owners "
when the area has chiefs.
Nene Oboade
said the traditional council and the stakeholders have called for meetings
several times, which the Dr Pupulampu and his people
have never attended. He said
Nene Oboade
said there was no reason for any one from any of the clans to complain or have
any suspicion of the agreement since they are all always invited for meetings
to discuss the issue.
Sheikh I.C Quaye said the
meeting was a sort of a family meeting with the aim of arriving at common plan
to end any form of conflict and to see the realisation of the noble project.
He said government's position
was not to interfere in the distribution of
He said those who have not
understood would finally come to realise the importance of peace, adding the
PSI was the same as the Cassava Initiative which was not government owned but
aimed towards the development of the private sector.
Kofi Plahar,
District Chief Executive said over six billion cedis was expected from the
project. He said as at now about 30,000 metric tons of salt was mined using the
traditional method, however if the investors take over they were sure of mining
about 2,1 metric tons of salt.
Plahar said the area was lacking
behind in development and the involvement of investors in the area would lead
to development of the area and ensure employment for many of the people and the
provision of other basic utilities.
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