GPHA won’t rush construction of Keta Port, says DG Luguje
The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has stated that it would not be pressurised into the construction of the Keta Port.
Speaking at a press soiree in Tema, Michael Luguje, GPHA director-general said, “It took about ten years to get the Tema Port constructed from beginning to end, and the Tema Port was constructed small and expanded with time.
“We don’t have to rush the Keta Port Project, there is the need to go through all the process.”
He stressed that the Keta Port project, which would be the third seaport in Ghana after Tema and Takoradi Ports, had received a lot of public bashing after the appointment of a director even though the actual construction was yet to take off.
Addressing such concerns, the GPHA director-general said the Keta Port is a strategic project of the state, therefore, the necessary procedures required for building such a facility must be followed to the latter.
Luguje stressed that, “Building a port is a meticulous process, it has a life cycle, which includes feasibility and other studies, analysis, before the actual construction, and also an Executive Instrument must be signed by the president.”
The director-general indicated that a lot of progress have been made about the Keta Port project, explaining that a feasibility study, stakeholder engagements, and an environmental assessment were done.
He also said an advert for the expression of interest had also been published, and a few proposals had been received, which were been reviewed to select the best.
He said the director of Keta Port was appointed to coordinate all the processes needed to get the port constructed.
Esther Gyebi-Donkor, general manager, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, GPHA reiterated the determination of the Authority to build the Keta Port.
She stressed that the GPHA was focused and was not perturbed by public sentiments on the project as they would deliver.
Gyebi-Donkor urged the media to contact the GPHA on issues that they needed clarification on instead of the penchant of some media outlets to publish one-sided stories, which ended up creating confusion in the public arena “let us work together to educate and inform the public truthfully,” she noted.
She said GPHA considered the media as a strategic partner and was ready to engage them, adding that in 2023, they would organize some training sessions for the media to keep them well informed on the operations of the Port.
