Brouhaha at Meridian Port Services…

NIL ANDERSEN IN TOWN
Will He Review or Abrogate Concessionary Agreement ?

The concessionary agreement of Meridian Port Services (MPS) is likely to come under
the telescope today as AP Muller Maersk Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Nil
Andersen, a Danish, arrives in the country as guest of the Ghana branch of the
Group.
Speculations are rife that Andersen’s visit is likely to lead to the review of MPS’
concessionary agreement that gives the wholly foreign consortium 70 per cent
handling right of all containers that are imported into the country through the Tema
Port.
This agreement is to be active for 20 years but the rumour mill which has been set
agog has it that Nil Andersen may be abrogating the albatross agreement.
His coming to Ghana is exactly a week after the disenchanted workers abandoned their
stevedoring and shore handling equipment to demand better conditions of service.
This was after they spotted the take-home pay of their Managing Director, Mohammed
Samara, pegged at GH¢90,000.
As they dine and wine at a plush restaurant at the West Airport area today, Nil
Andersen and the senior staff will be wondering what the reaction of the public
would be if the contents of the agreement comes to be known.
For unexplained reasons, the consortium, MPS, has been handed the most juicy part of
the Tema Port (70 per cent) leaving the nine local stevedoring companies which
include the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to struggle for the remaining
30 per cent of stevedore activities.
Sources close to MPS hinted this paper that the strike action last week is the straw
that broke the camel’s back.
According to the sources, the workers’ action last week should have been avoided
because it has now literally opened the otherwise ‘tight gate’ of MPS for inside
stories to flow freely to the public.
More Anon