HELP TO MAKE GHANA A TRANSPORT HUB IN WEST AFRICA —DZIFA ATTIVOR URGES PARLIAMENT, The Enquirer, Tuesday, 2nd July, 2013.

From Felix Engsalige Nyaaba-Sogakope,V/R

The Minister of Transport, Mrs. Dzifa Aku Attivor , has  called on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and transport to assist to make Ghana a transport hub in the West Africa Sub region by ensuring the approval of  transport bills that are  expected to be laid before the august house sometime this year .

According to her, Government, as part of the better Ghana agenda, will focus on the development of the transport infrastructure to enhance service delivery so as to achieve the national objective of creating Ghana as the transportation hub within the sub-region.

Mrs. Attivor made the called at a two day brief meeting with the parliamentary select committee on road and transport and the sector ministries and their agencies at Sogakope in the Volta region on Saturday last week.

The objective of the briefing meeting was to bring the parliamentary select committee and the ministries and their agencies together to deliberate on strategies that would give the committee an in-depth knowledge of issues at the sector ministries and the agencies under their supervision.

Mrs. Attivor said, “The ministry vision is to create an integrated, cost effective, safe, secured and sustainable transportation system that is responsive to the needs of society, supporting growth and poverty reduction and capable of establishing Ghana as a transport hub of West Africa.”

She stated that any undue delay in approving bills on the transportation sector at parliamentary will be an obstacle to free flow of goods and services among West African states.

The sector minister noted that in order to achieve the objectives of making Ghana the transportation hub in the sub region, the ministry was pursuing several developmental transport infrastructures to improve the transport services.

She said the ministry is expecting parliament this year to approve some bills including Marine pollution bill, Ghana Airport Company bill and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) bill which are to be laid before the house.

Mrs. Attivor also expressed concern about the rampant encroachment on lands belonging to some of the agencies under the ministry, especially lands of Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) and Railway Company limited in the country.

Mr. Michael Coffie Boampong, Chairman of Parliamentary Select Committee on road and Transport also expressed concern about the challenges facing the transportation sector, especially the encroachment of lands and the lack of investors in the sector.

He said the meeting afforded members of the committee insight into activities of all the agencies under the road and transport ministries, their challenges and how to solve them.

 Mr. Boampong said with the vital role played by road and transport sector at the national and the West Africa sub regional level, there was the need to ensure that they have the need and available resources to operate.

He said GCAA for instance, could operate efficiently and effectively when it had enough funds through the acquisition of fair percentage of Airport Passenger Service Charge (APSC).

On the issue of impending bills by the transport ministry, the he said the committee would  work hard to ensure that they are pass as soon they are laid before parliament, adding that, “when cabinet approves those bills certainly we would ensure their passages.”

However, Mr. Boampong said he was impressed with the operations of Ghana Port and Harbour Authority (GPHA) and looked forward with great anticipation to the days of fast and easy clearance of goods at the ports.

Air Commodore Kwame Mamphey, Director General of GCAA, said GCAA had over the years been going through several phases of development which in the long term, made airlines more and more comfortable with flights to and from the country.
He said increase in the number of airlines, both local and foreign, operating from Kotoka International Airport (KIA), as well as several others waiting to be licensed to operate at KIA, was evidence to the confidence that had been built within the potential publics and clients of GCAA, as a result of high standards it had maintained.

 The GCAA Director General said security at KIA was not being compromised in the least, adding that the authority is considering bringing in sniffers dogs to augment the security at the airport.

"We are doing our best to ensure that everyone in aviation has a good understanding of his importance in our quest to make KIA an aviation hub," he said.

Air Commodore Mamphey also noted that then challenges facing GCAA were encroachment on its lands and called for frequent interaction between the committee and agencies.

Caption: the committee and ministers and their directors of the various agencies at the brief meeting at Holy Trinity Hotel, Sogakope.