Accra, June 22, GNA - Mr Ben Owusu-Mensah, Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has been elected Chairman of the Technical Co-operation Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday and signed by Mr Ahmed Ayuba, Special Assistant to the Minister of Ports, Harbours and Railways, said Mr Owusu-Mensah was elected at the 54th Session of the Technical Committee.

It said the Committee made policies and supervised the advancement of IMO's Technical Co-operation Programmes to help developing countries improve their ability to comply with international rules and standards relating to maritime safety, security and the prevention and control of maritime pollution.

Other activities of the Committee include giving priority to technical assistance programmes that focused on human resource development and institutional capacity building.

The IMO is the regulatory agency of the United Nations (UN) with a global mandate for ensuring safer shipping and cleaner oceans and pursues that mandate by adopting international maritime rules and standards that are implemented and enforced by governments in the exercise of flag, port and coastal state jurisdiction.

The statement said governments and the global shipping industry accepted rules and standards of IMO because they provided a single, universal framework governing maritime operations.

It said Ghana had been a major beneficiary of the programmes of IMO and currently she was being assisted with technical know-how in respect of reception facilities for liquid and solid waste from ships that berth at Tema and Takoradi Ports.

In addition, Ghana is receiving technical support for her efforts at complying with the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) under the IMP programme. 22 June 04