THE MANAGEMENT of the Takoradi Port has decided to reduce all the rates they charge at the country's first sea port to entice Ivorian shippers to channel the goods through the port.

The director of the port, Mr. Nestor Galley, who disclosed this to the Chronicle in a telephone interview Wednesday, this week, said the decision follows the apparent refusal by the Ivorian shippers to use the Takoradi port, which is closer to Abidjan than any other port.

Following the rebel activities, which is currently going on in the Ivory Coast, ship owners have refused to allow their vessels to enter the latter's territorial waters to discharge goods imported by businessmen in the country.

The decision has compelled shippers in the Ivory Coast to direct all their goods through Ghana, but instead of directing the vessels to berth at the Takoradi port, which is closer to them, they prefer to use the Tema port instead.

Currently, about a 100 articulated trucks travel daily from the Ivory Coast through Elubo and Takoradi to Tema to haul Ivorians imported goods from the Tema port to Abidjan.

Connoisseurs are of the view that apart from the inconveniences these Ivorian owned articulated trucks who travel in convoys have been causing to the motorists on the narrow Biriwa-Kasoa road, the shippers would have also saved costs if they decided to used the Takoradi port, which has all the facilities that Tema port has.

According to Mr. Nestor Galley, their decision to slash down their rates is not the only incentives they intend to offer the Ivorian shippers. "We are sending our own vehicles to Tema tomorrow (Thursday) to bring down the Ivorian shippers and their agents to show them the facilities we have here and convince them to use the port," he added.

Galley further told the Chronicle that currently close to 20 ships are waiting to enter the Tema port to discharge their goods due to the heavy traffic there.

He said for the captains of these ships to sail to Takoradi to discharge their goods, they have to receive orders from the shippers who have also failed to do so to enable the ships sail back.

The director did not however shift all the blame to the Ivorian shippers since as he put it most of them do not have offices in Ghana so they are using the agents of the goods.

According to Mr. Galley, it is based on this that they have decided to bring the shippers and their agents to Takoradi port at their (Takoradi port) own expense to expose them to their facilities since some of them may be ignorant about the Takoradi port, which was constructed in 1928 by our British colonial rulers.

One funny thing about these Ivorian articulator drivers, which can also be dangerous, is that when the time is due for them to offer prayers, the one leading the convoy would stop and the rest, irrespective of whether the place is in a curve or not, would also stop.

The practice, if not checked, could cause serious accidents, especially from the Axim junction to the Ghana Real Rubber Estates Limited processing plant at Agona Nkwanta, where the Elubo-Takoradi highway appears to have more curves.