The government has allocated an extra berth at Tema Port, temporarily, to help clear a backlog of clinker vessels after cement manufacturers imposed a GH¢12 surcharge on each bag.
Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare said on 11 September that the existing three berths were insufficient for the volume of clinker coming in. After a meeting with manufacturers, she said the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, under the Transport Minister, had agreed to provide an extra berth for a limited period.
“I’m happy to inform you that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, under the direction of the Minister for Transport, have agreed to give us an extra berth temporarily so that we can clear the backlog and free the manufacturers from demurrage,” she said.
She also said the Ghana Revenue Authority had introduced measures to speed duty payments so importers could clear cargo faster.
The Chamber of Cement Manufacturers, Ghana introduced the GH¢12-per-bag surcharge earlier in September, saying GH¢10 was for demurrage and GH¢2 for taxes and levies. It had linked the charge to long waits for clinker ships at Tema.
Transport Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe, speaking after the same port visit, said recently completed dredging would let larger clinker vessels berth. “The dredging is finished as we talk now. The only thing is to notify all the shipping lines in the world through the shipping industry that we now have a draft that can take bigger vessels,” he said.
Some reports of the inspection described GPHA as agreeing to dredge an additional berth. Nikpe’s account treats the dredging as already done, and Ofosu-Adjare’s quoted measure is a temporary extra berth, not a new berth still waiting to be dug.
GPHA has not, in the accounts used here, named the extra berth or said that clinker ships are already using it. The GPHA director-general said he expected the backlog to be cleared before the peak season ends in October. There is no confirmation that manufacturers have withdrawn the GH¢12 surcharge.