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24.11.2007 Business & Finance

Freight Forwarders Petition Kufuor

24.11.2007 LISTEN
By Daily Guide

CHAIRMAN of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Robert Kutin, has appealed to President Kufuor to abolish the unilateral charges paid by consigners and importers.

The charges are allegedly being levied on consignors and importers by ship owners and their agents.

Over the last eight years, the nation had lost about $300million through this act of the shipping companies and their agents.

Mr Kutin contended that the same practice was going on at the Kotoka International Airport, and appealed to the authorities to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to book.

He made the appeal at the 11th annual general meeting of GIFF at Elmina in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) District of the Central Region last Friday.

It was on the theme: “Multimodal Transport-The New Model for International Freight Movement in the Sub-Region".

Mr Kutin pointed out that government needed the operations of freight forwarders to build the economy just as it needed the services of other professionals, hence the need to support the association.

He expressed concern about the pain freight forwarders go through in securing vessels to transport their goods to other West African ports.

He noted that most aircraft used for the carriage of passengers in the sub-region were small, without space for cargo, and suggested the use of multimodal transport systems for movement of cargo from Ghana to other sub-regional seaports.

He further appealed to the ECOWAS Commission to provide the necessary infrastructure that would make the concept operational in the sub-region.

Sarah Afful, Elmina

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