Tema, June 7, GNA - Mr. Samuel Sallas-Mensah, Executive Secretary of the Revenue Agencies Governing Board, announced that the country's three revenue collection institutions would be integrated into one authority to ensure efficiency. He mentioned the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Value Added Tax (VAT), and Internal Revenue Services (IRS), which would be under one Commissioner General and said the name under which they would operate was yet to be decided.

Mr. Sallas-Mensah was addressing officers and men of CEPS at the Tema collection point after which he toured collection points at the Tema Main Harbour to acquaint himself with operations there. They are the Meridian Port Services, the two scanning machine points - the Gateway Services Limited and the Ghana Customs Inspection Company, formerly called Nik TC Scan as well as Golden Jubilee Terminal. Mr. Sallas-Mensah said the proposed amalgamation of the revenue

collection bodies, spelt out in the 2009 budget, would be implemented. He said that it was at the preparatory stage and yet to be approved by Cabinet, passed into an Authority Bill and finally submitted to Parliament for it to be passed into law.

Mr Sallas-Mensah said when the merger comes into operation, all workers would enjoy the same conditions of service. He said urged CEPS officials to exercise restraint in their demand to know whether they fall under the military or the public service the integration would address functions and status of the workers. Mr Sallas-Mensah urged staff of revenue collection agencies to work harder to step up revenue generation.

Managers at the scanning point complained about the abandonment of trucks at the premises for about three weeks, creating congestion. They said the facility could scan between 100 and 120 trucks loaded with goods daily.

Mr Sallas-Mensah who was accompanied by top officials of CEPS from Accra was led to tour the facilities by Alhaji Mohammed Nasirudeen, Controller of the Tema CEPS Collection Point.