Chaos At Tema Port Affecting Fresh Fruit Exports

Fruit exporters in the country have asked the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority to grant special passage to fresh fruits to reduce wastage and huge costs incurred due to long delays at the port.

In addition, the exporters want the installation of additional scanners at the port to ease the flow of traffic there.

Members of the newly created Banana Producers Association of Ghana made the call at the launch of the association.

Banana is gradually becoming a major export earner for Ghana. Data available indicates that last year about seventy thousand tonnes of banana was exported, earning the country about forty million Dollars.

This amount is paltry when compared to neighbouring Ivory Coast which produces over three hundred thousand tonnes of the fruit annually.

And the Ivorian government dedicated a port terminal to banana and fruit export, providing huge relief to producers there.

Chairman of the Banana Producers Association, Anthony Kofi Blay told reporters that “congestion is quite a problem because there are times that you simply cannot have your trucks make two rounds of transporting bananas to the port because there’s so much congestion in getting to the port".

“The port infrastructure makes turnaround time for vessels quite long for which reason it’s a disincentive for bigger to berth at Tema,” Blay added.

The association comprises Golden Exotics Limited, Volta River Estates and Musahamat Company.

Most banana producers from Africa export to Europe, where they face stiff competition from mostly Latin America.

President of the African Banana producers Association, Joseph Owona Kono called on the European Union to support African producers to export more of the fruit to the EU market.

A deputy Minister of Agriculture George Oduro, who inaugurated the association, pledged government’s support in easing the cost of production and export of fruit crops.

Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com| Benjamin Tetteh