President John Agyekum Kufuor, on Friday unveiled a plaque to commission a 10 million-dollar Tema Container Terminal (TCT) sited at the eastern gate at the Tema port.

The Terminal, which covers 55,000 square meters, has been built to international standards and would facilitate the movement of transit cargo to land-locked countries in the Sub-Region. It has an annual throughput capacity of 40,000 containers with storage for up to about 1,600 stocked and 3,000 empty TEU (Twenty Equivalent Units). President Kufuor said; "this project is a good example of the role that the private sector can play in the development of our country. It is a great boost to the gateway project that aims at making Ghanaian seaports the shipping gateway of West Africa.

He said "For the gateway project to become a reality, our ports should become competitive in both infrastructure and service delivery so that they will be attractive destinations to both ship owners and shippers, who in accord with the dictate of the current competitive trends in the global market which they service, insists on these development as basic. President Kufuor said this is why improvements in ports infrastructure are currently underway in both Tema and Takoradi to meet the demands of vessels, which keep on changing in size and mode of operation.

President Kufuor said ship owners now prefer to use large vessels on their major routes with few stops at convenient hubs where cargoes destined for many markets are discharged for transhipment by smaller vessels or road and rail transport to their final destinations. He said it is a welcome relief to government to have a facility such as TCT wholly financed by the private sector, adding that it has certainly justified the opening up of the ports to private sector participation and could be cited as public/private sector co-operation in infrastructural development.

President Kufuor expressed the hope that this would encourage other like-minded investors to develop similar facilities to enable Ghana to benefit from the transhipment trade in the Sub-Region, especially to the land-locked neighbours of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and increase trade and commerce and contribute immensely to the realisation of ECOWAS and regional integration.

The Director of the Bollore Group, which is affiliated to various Ghanaian companies and TCC, Mr M. Bernard Martineau said the group has close to two million square metres of terminals, warehousing and office space worldwide and 600 agencies in 110 countries. He said their sound financial standing is attested to by the group's annual turnover in excess of four billion dollars, adding as a result of their good performance over the years, the group has a track record and a long history of financial security.

He said the group has in line with the government's gateway policy and in the true spirit of Golden Age of Business had made significant capital commitment. Mr Martineau said with the completion of the project congestion at the Tema port would be eased to facilitate an efficient transhipment platform for cargo destined to other West African states.

The Minister of Roads and Transport, Dr Richard Anane said the ministry and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) are currently evaluating consultants' proposal that would enable the capacities of the two seaports to be increased in anticipation of increased traffic. He said a sod-cutting ceremony would soon take place for the development of an inland port at Boankra in the Ashanti Region to facilitate the movement of goods to and from the hinterland of the country.

He stated that the Ghana Maritime Authority Bill, recently passed by Parliament would enable the establishment of a proper regulatory body for the country's maritime industry. It is envisaged that the mode of registering ships would be liberalised to attract foreign ship owners to register their vessels in Ghana.