Minister of Transport inaugurates two boards

The Minister of Transport, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has inaugurated the newly reconstituted boards of the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) and the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in Accra.

The GSA board which has 14 members will be chaired by Mrs Stella Wilson Agyapong, the Chief Executive Officer of Kencity Media, while the 20 member board for the NRSC will also be chaired by Rev Ismaila Hasmittson Awudu, Head Pastor of the East Legon Branch of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC).

Speaking at the ceremony on Tuesday, Mr Ofori Asiamah indicated that the improvement of port trade and the attainment of overall efficiency which were key to economic transformation were priorities the government intended to pursue.

According to him, while the government was eager to ensure that transit trade through Ghana increased, it had become necessary to put the Boankra Inland Port in the Ashanti Region to good use towards the attainment of the desired results.

The inland port project which was first initiated in 1996 by the government through the GSA and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) was expected to link the ports of Tema and Takoradi to the northern and landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali and further ease congestion at the ports, have been left abandoned for more than a decade.

The minister, thus tasked the GSA board to liaise with the consultant that had been engaged by the government to develop modalities to ensure that the facility became operational in the ensuing years.

“The idea of the facility helping to decongest the Tema Port, attract transit trade and further create employment for young people should spur us to put it to good use ” , Mr Asiamah said.

Road Safety

On road safety, the minister bemaoned the alarming rate of road crashes through out the country.

“Provisional statistics for the first and second quarter of 2017 alone are alarming, and this is where the Commission would have to collaborate with other institutions to address the issue immediately”, Mr Asiamah said.

He pointed out that apart from the human element of road traffic accidents, road conditions and the state of vehicles were also often disregarded.

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Team work

The minister, however, cautioned members of the two boards not to take over the day to day running of the two institutions, but rather work as a team, set out policies that would transform the two institutions into what they could be proud of.

“You are to guide and not veered into the operational issues of your respective institutions”, Mr Asiamah cautioned.

The Chairman of the NRSC board, Rev Awudu, in his remarks indicated that while the task given them was a herculean one, members of the board owed it a duty to Ghanaians to address the safety issues on the country’s roads.

Mrs Agyapong, speaking on behalf of the GSA board, pledged the commitment of the members to work to improve the fortunes of the company as well as the working condition of staff.

Writer’s email: della.russel@graphic.com.gh