Authorities of the Tema Port has been urged to impose a fine on drivers and other stakeholders who leave their containers at the holding area without any justifiable reasons.

This and other measures would help to decongest the scanning area and ensure smooth and quick clearance, Mr Charles Okyne, the Scanner Manager of Gateway Services Limited (GSL), said on Thursday.

Mr Okyne said the need for such strenuous measures could not be over emphasized as it would help solve the congestion challenge at the Port, which has limited holding area after scanning.

He gave the advice during a Continuing Development Programme, organized by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) on the theme, “Facilitating best practice in the container scanning operations in the Port of Tema”.

He said scanning was very relevant for the operations of the Port and its operations must be properly streamlined and improved for easy clearance, adding that, currently about 30 per cent of all cargoes go through scanning while the remaining 70 per cent through physical inspection.

Mr Okyne noted that breaking of seal and sampling of every container by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority could also be looked at again.

He also called for the implementation of recommendations from various forums on de-congesting the Port, stating for instance that, a tough decision has to be taken on allowing only Customs to do all documentations and inspections on cargoes on behalf of other agencies.

Nana Esi Quansah-Soderberg, the Senior Marketing and Public Relations Officer at GPHA, Tema, in a presentation, called on the various agencies to streamline their operations to match the increase rate of cargo at the Port.

Mrs Quansah-Soderberg stated that, even though the Port works 24-hours, the other agencies in charge of documentation and inspection have a normal working schedule, which affected quick clearance.

Mr Kumi Adjei-Sam, the National Vice President, Maritime of CILT, said the Continuing Development Programme is organized quarterly, to update the knowledge and skills of practitioners to enable them to perform creditably.