The Tema branch of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority has organised a get together with members of the press in the Tema Metropolis to update them on happenings within the maritime trade and the activities of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority.

The get together also created the opportunity for the Shippers’ Authority and to elicit the support of the media to sensitise and educate their stakeholders, and the entire shipping community.

Monica Josiah said the Authority remains committed to addressing problems of shippers in order to ensure safe, reliable and cost-effective cargo handling at Ghana’s ports.

“When we are able to cut down the cost of doing shipping business in the logistics chain and all that, I believe the benefits translates to all of us,” she stated.

Monica Josiah who also has responsibility for the Volta and Eastern Region offices of the Shippers’ Authority said, one cardinal activity the Authority intends to embark on in 2018 is to carry out outreach programmes to the various importers and exporters in Tema, Volta and Eastern Regions.

She argued that once shippers are able to avoid demurrage, the country will be better off economically because the cost of doing business would be reduced.

“I don’t think Ghana should even be paying anything on demurrage but we also have to put our house in order by doing the right thing as importers and exporters and also the various agencies so that we can bring down the levels. Currently we are looking at figures of over 70 Million USD as of 2017. We are trusting and hoping that by the time we end 2018, the figure would have gone down significantly”, the Tema Branch Manager explained.

Monica Josiah entreated importers to always engage the services of accredited and genuine freight forwarders and customs house agents in order to avoid payment of illegal fees in the clearance chain.