Stakeholders in Maritime industry call for Maritime Transport Policy

Stakeholders in the Ghana Maritime Authority are calling for the development of a comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy as soon as possible.

According to them, such a policy will streamline activities in the maritime sector—enhancing its contribution to trade.

The comments were made at the opening ceremony of the National Maritime Transport Policy Workshop held here in Accra.

The 3-Day National Maritime Transport Policy Workshop will bring together representatives from the International Maritime Organization, Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority, private sector players and government representatives, with the goal of engaging these stakeholders in a meaningful dialogue with a view to lay the basis for developing a strong policy which could form part of or be parallel to a broader national integrated maritime policy or ocean governance policy.

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Speaking to Citi Business News on the sidelines of the opening ceremony the Acting Chief Subdivision for Programme Management and Coordination Technical Cooperation Division, Jonathan Pace said the time for a national maritime Transport policy was long overdue.

On his part Daniel Appianin the first Deputy Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority highlighted the impact of such a policy.

“We cannot forget about the fact that maritime transport is key especially when it comes to the importation of goods and services. So it is time as a country we focus on improving the existing maritime transport policies so that we can improve upon trade and business especially on our seas including the Volta Lake.”

Dr. Kofi Mbiah, the former Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Shippers’ Authority also added that the coming into force of a comprehensive national maritime Transport policy will lead to increased employment in the sector.

“As technology renders people in the maritime sector jobless, it’s important that you develop policies that enable you to either re-train and/or put to use those that don’t are rendered redundant. These are matters that the new policy will address.

Source: Citifmonline