We are not against Atuabo Free Port - MP

Member of Parliament for Tema Central Constituency, Hon. Kofi Brako, who is one of five members of parliament suing government over the Atuabo Free Port project has indicated that they are not against the project in principle, but that they are seeking to remove clauses in the agreement that gives Lonhro Ports Limited exclusivity of 25 years with an option of renewal.

According to him, they are fighting the issue in court because they want to ensure that the Port of Takoradi, which is Ghana’s oldest port, does not collapse out of distress.

Hon. Kofi Brako, who was speaking on Oman Fm’s flagship current affairs programme Boiling Point, noted that the Port of Takoradi, which currently depends on subventions from the port of Tema to operate is reeling under serious financial constraints and must be given a lease of life to survive.

According to him, they view the exclusivity clauses in the agreement as a means of discriminating against the Port of Takoradi and an infringement on the law that establishes the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.

In his view, the Takoradi Port must be allowed to operate alongside the yet-to-be built Atuabo Free port, noting that they should be made to compete to allow for efficiency in the services they will be rendering to clients.

According to him, developing the Free Port as an oil services hub will mean that it will be seeking jobs from neighbouring countries that are also into the exploration of oil including Guinea and Nigeria among others; stressing that the current posture of the company makes it appear as though they were to be dependent only on jobs in Ghana.

Hon. Kofi Brako was also not happy with the position of some chiefs from the Nzema area where the Free port is to be situated, explaining that it was not their wish that the project does not come into fruition in order to bring jobs to the youth of the area, but that they were looking at the national interest and the potential of the port of Takoradi to maximise the gains it is to derive from the oil and gas industry.

He noted that sanctioning a loan for the expansion and development of the Port of Takoradi into an oil services hub and later bringing in a private company to play the same role does not augur well for the nation, adding that the taxpayers’ money must be protected and that the loan which will be serviced by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority plus interest cannot be allowed to go waste.

He appealed to the chiefs and people of the area to exercise restraint whiles the case is addressed by the courts in order that Ghana becomes the ultimate beneficiary at the end of it all.

He assured that they will play their roles as legislator to ensure that the constitution and laws of Ghana are not unduly undermined but that the interest of the nation supersedes all other interests.