MOH clears medical supplies at Tema port
The Ministry of Health has begun clearing consignments of medical supplies abandoned at the Tema Port since 2013.
The exercise follows a Daily Graphic publication on August 26, 2015 that medical supplies imported in 2013 by the ministry had still not been cleared.
As of Wednesday, items including theatre beds, medical consumables, some of which were donated by the Ghana Australian Association, infusions, X-ray protective guards, pacifiers, specimen collection kits, among other supplies, had been cleared.
Officials from the Ghana Supply Commission were also working on documents to enable them to clear other supplies such as pharmaceutical supplies, examination gloves, surgical sutures, orthopaedic supplies among others procured in the name of the ministry.
Missing Documentations
The Shipping Officer at the Ghana Supply Commission, Mr Kwadwo Opoku, told the Daily Graphic that some of the items arrived in the country in 2012 and others in 2013.
According to him, several requests made by the commission to the ministry for the release of documentations covering the items since 2013 had been unproductive.
He blamed the involvement of multiple agencies in the clearance of goods on behalf of the ministry, scattered documentation and the failure of some donor agencies to notify the ministry of shipped items as some of the reasons that caused the delay.
Mr Opoku explained that the commission had in the past gone the extra mile to secure documentations on some medical and pharmaceutical supplies donated by the UNICEF Supply Commission, China Pharmaceutical Development Corporation.
"These items, which were consigned to the ministry, had no documentations nor contact details to enable the commission to follow up when they arrived in the country", Mr Opoku lamented.
Demurrage
Mr Opoku explained that demurrage charges on 40-footer containers could be as high as GH¢400 per day, depending on the dollar rate and "when the documentations are not readily accessible for clearing processes to be carried out, it could lead to huge charges on the consignments due to the long periods of stay in the port.
Additionally, items such as syringes and pharmaceutical consumables could expire by the time the clearing process was over if they overstayed in the port.
The clearing procedures, he added, even became more cumbersome when the consignments are listed on the overstayed database.
"If the ministry works with only the commission, it becomes easier to eliminate the bottlenecks associated with the clearance of its cargoes", he stated.
