Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs. Joyce Bawa Mogtari has revealed that despite the many processes that the transition of the PSC Shipyard must go through to be handed over to the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA), she doesn’t see the transition going beyond one month.
In an interview, Mrs. Mogtari expressed confidence in the processes that were on-going and believed that the process was on track and was not going to delay as being speculated in the public domain. She expressed her confidence in cabinet and also in GPHA
“We are waiting for cabinet’s direction to fully begin the amalgamation process. A lot will go into it and the transition will not take more than one month. Hoping GPHA can bring on board their financial muscle, experience and expertise” she stated
According to the deputy minister, PSC Tema Shipyard has always been a strategic installation in the country since its inception and has undertaken repair of vessels that mostly call Ghanaian ports, adding that at some point in time it was one of the few dry docks servicing and maintaining vessels in the west of Africa. She further noted that its relevance cannot be underestimated.
The shipyard has had a chequered history, the Malaysian partnership didn’t go well but in the few years it has been stable. But there has been lack of funds which has been their main bane. The strategic plan to bring on board a partner didn’t really go well because there was a lot to consider. It was for this reason the ministry of transport led by Hon. Fifi Kwetey appealed to cabinet to find a way out of the turbulence, hence the decision to handover the shipyard to GPHA who already own and operate a shipyard in Takoradi.
Quizzed on whether government was moved by the agitations of workers to make this very important move, the deputy minister revealed that, “The worker agitations was not the reason for government’s move, government was already in the move to bring a partner on board”
According Mrs. Bawa, GPHA was being brought on board for several reasons which included, Capacity to recruit more workers, social impact on society, better management structures to attract investors, to bring on board the necessary equipment to remain competitive and the need for staff rationalization.
Workers of the Shipyard
The deputy Minister appealed to workers of the shipyard to calm down. According to her, the shipyard evokes a lot of passion thus negotiating with them is sometimes very difficult because they have been working there for a very long time, stressing that feel they have a responsibility to Ghanaians that the shipyard is run properly
Future of the Yard
Touching on the future of the shipyard, Mrs. Mogtari intimated that its operations going forward will be hinged on creating jobs, training opportunity to people who want to venture into that area and having business minded people to manage the shipyard as well as return the shipyard to its moment of glory to become a beacon of hope in West Africa.
