The Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) has opened a Shippers’ Complaints and Support Unit at the Paga Border of the Upper East Region to ensure rapid response to shippers' complaints.

Speaking to newsmen during a familiarisation tour embarked upon the Upper East Regional Shippers’ Committee (UERSC) to acquaint itself with the procedures of the Unit, the Chief Executive of the GSA, Dr Kofi Mbiah, said the Authority had been mandated to protect and promote the interest of Ghanaian Shippers.

He said to enable the GSA to discharge that mandate, it was establishing Shippers’ Complaints and Support Units in major border towns of the country among other measures.

He said apart from establishing the Paga Shippers Complaints and Support Unit, others had also been established at the Kotoka International Airport, Takoradi, Elubo and Aflao.

Dr Mbiah said plans were also underway to open similar ones at Hamele in the Upper West Region and Kulungugu in the Bawku Municipality of the Upper East Region.

He said the Authority had established Shippers’ Committees in all the ten regions of the country to address the challenges and concerns of shippers.

The Chief Executive said the committees were made up of the Ghana Standards Authority, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ghana Immigration Service, Police Service and the Export Promotion Council among others who met periodically with the shippers to sensitise them on how to go about their businesses to avoid problems.

Mr Francis Danso, Chairman of the Upper East Regional Shippers Committee, who expressed his gratitude to the GSA, said, hitherto, shippers had to go through a lot of problems with security agencies at the border towns, but of late such problems had reduced.

He attributed the success story to the role played by GSA by bringing all stakeholders, including the security agencies, on board during the periodical meetings with the shippers.

The shippers, he noted, were being sensitised from time to time on export and import laws, including international trade laws, and expressed the hope that all the bottlenecks of shippers would soon be a thing of the past.