SHIPPERS TOLD TO REFRAIN FROM ILLEGAL PRACTICES (PAGE 55)

Shippers have been urged not to engage in any illegal practices that will rob the country of the needed revenue.
The Deputy Chief Executive of the Shippers Council, Mr Emmanuel Martey, who said this at the inauguration of a Shipper Complaints and Support Unit at Elubo Border in the Western Region, cautioned shippers that the use of dubious methods would land them in trouble when discovered.
“Our caution to you as shippers is to do what is expected of you as a council. We will not condone inappropriate, shady and illegal transactions that could land you in trouble,” he warned.
He said it was important that shippers would consult the council to guide them in their business transactions and decision-making in order to forestall committing blunders in the processes.
Mr Martey said the council through the unit would provide the shippers with the platform for checking on the status of various agents, particularly freight forwarders they intended to engage.
He said there was no doubt that traders using the Elubo Border would now heave a sigh of relief with the establishment of the unit at the border since prior to the inauguration, the nearest place for solution was Takoradi.
“Our focus is to ensure that we created the safest and the most appropriate atmosphere for members of the council, therefore, the establishment of the units across the country was in response to the increasing request from the shipper community,” he said.
Apart from Elubo and Takoradi which are currently provided with the facility, the council would establish the unit at Aflao, Bawku, Paga, Tema and Kotoka International Airport to assist shippers.
He said the council had in the past taken some steps by the introduction of “Mobiship”, which enabled the shippers to use their mobile phone irrespective of the network provider to access information on the movement of vessels.
The council, he said, had also provided shippers with an information centre fully equipped with Internet facility within the Shippers’ Council building at the Chapel Hill in Takoradi.
Mr Martey said the council was in the process of providing large warehouses and truck parking facilities at Takoradi and Buipe that cross-border traders could make use of.
“At present, the council has six large warehouses in a prime location at Tema Harbour to provide warehouse facilities to shippers especially those in the landlocked countries transmitting through the Tema Port.”
There were solidarity massages from the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).