The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has said it was compelled to implement a revised tariff due to the current global economic challenges, including inflation and currency depreciation, which have increased its operational costs.
A statement signed by Mrs Esther Gyebi-Donkor, the General Manager, Marketing, and Corporate Affairs, GPHA, copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday, said while management was concerned about the low traffic volumes, that was no reason for the Authority to operate at a loss.
‘Our investigation revealed that the decline in cargo volumes cannot be attributed to GPHA’s service charges. GPHA’s charges as a component of the total cost of cargo clearance in the port are about six per cent,’ it said.
GPHA was conducting a study on the individual contributors and their share of the total cost of cargo clearance in the ports so that they and other stakeholders could engage and find possible solutions, the statement said.
It said the scope of the tariff review was such that some tariff items were not increased, while others were restructured to address the distortions and lack of clarity in their interpretation and application.
GPHA’s operations, according to management, were affected like any other business by increases in the price of fuel, water, electricity, machinery, and equipment, among other things.
While the Authority understood that tariff increments might have a short-term effect on businesses, it was essential to maintain a delicate balance between cost recovery and providing quality services, the statement said.
It said GPHA had no specific time frame for tariff reviews, therefore, the decision to increase port tariff came after careful evaluation and consideration of various factors impacting the port’s operations.
‘Indeed, records show that there was a time when port tariff was not reviewed for more than a decade,’ it said.
‘Like all other increments done in the past, the rates of increment in this year’s tariff adjustment were informed by the outcome of comparative port tariff studies conducted in the neighbouring Ports of Lome and Abidjan.’
That, the statement said, was to ensure that at every given time, Ghana’s ports would remain competitive in terms of pricing and quality of services, adding that even with the increment that took effect on August 1, 2023, overall, the port tariffs remained competitive compared to those of its neighbours.
It said transparency and accountability remained at the core of GPHA’s decision-making process, ensuring that the interests of all parties were considered.
Before the implementation of the tariff, there were a series of engagements with the relevant institutions and major stakeholders to gather insights and feedback before implementing the tariff increment.
The major stakeholders included the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana, Freight Forwarding Associations, Ghana Union of Traders Association, Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, as well as representations from the transit trading community.
Source: Ghana News Agency
