The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), in collaboration with Auto Consult Venture Limited (ACVL), has introduced a new verification and certification policy to register about 11,982 haulage trucks and trailers at the country’s ports.
The new policy is expected to commence in September 2016.
Officials of GPHA would check load worthiness of vehicles before permits are granted to the drivers to enter Ghana’s ports to transport cargo.
Elie Company Limited (ECL), a private vehicle testing centre at Dawhenya in Tema, has been contracted to determine the load worthiness of the vehicles under a pilot scheme that starts at the end of this month.
Under the project, all verified trucks would be embossed with special identification after inspection and verification which would be done thrice a week. Twenty trucks are expected to be registered daily.
All registered trucks are expected to renew their registration twice in a year at a fee which is yet to be determined.
Joana Francais Adda, Public Relations Manager of Tema Port, who made this known at a day’s meeting with members of the Tema Chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), explained that the registration would not conflict with the work of DVLA, whose mandate is to check road worthiness of all vehicles in the country.
According to her, the verification and identification of the vehicles is to curb needless accidents on the roads.
She noted that the process of verification and certification would be done concurrently as vehicles go through the process to load cargo.
“You know most of the truck owners live in Kumasi, and I can tell you that there is no cause for alarm because we have met them and explained issues to them about the new policy we intend to introduce in order to help reduce congestion at the ports.
“GPHA is not bringing any trucks to haul cargo at the ports in order to take the truck owners out of business but what we want to ensure is that trucks which call at the port to transact business are in good condition to avoid accident and damage to cargo, and truck owners must ensure they maintain their vehicles.”
From Vincent Kubi, Tema