Minister for Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, has strongly denied reports alleging that hundreds of excavators were secretly cleared from the Tema Port at midnight, insisting that the exercise was a transparent and publicly announced evacuation plan aimed at decongesting the country’s busiest port.
Speaking in an interview on Starr FM with Foster Aggor on Wednesday, September 10, Mr. Nikpe said the reports circulating in the media were misleading and failed to reflect the true purpose of the exercise. According to him, the excavators had not been released to their owners, as some reports suggested, but had been moved to military installations for safekeeping and to create space at the port.
“It was a shock to me when I saw that publication coming from Joy FM,” the Minister stated. “Over the past months, we, together with the President, placed a ban on the importation of excavators to help in the fight against illegal mining. Despite this, the Tema Port received many excavators that were not released to their owners, which eventually created congestion. To deal with this, on the 22nd of last month, I called on the ports authority to issue a public notice, informing the public of an evacuation exercise. This is what we started, and it is ongoing.”
Mr. Nikpe explained that the excavators were transported under security supervision to designated military bases, including Michelle Camp, Burma Camp, Teshie Camp, and the 48 Engineers Regiment. This, he said, was done deliberately to guarantee safety and accountability.
“The excavators are not being released to people as has been reported. They are being moved to those military camps for safekeeping. We are doing this primarily to decongest the port and also to ensure free flow of movement for businesses operating there. When goods are stuck at the port for too long, it adds unnecessary charges and delays. We do not want that to be the case,” he emphasized.
The Minister further noted that the congestion at Tema Port had been a recurring challenge for successive governments, particularly when containers and heavy-duty machinery pile up without clearance. He recalled that upon assuming office, one of his first interventions was to clear the backlog of containers that had been left unattended for several months.
“Since we took over, the port was congested with a lot of containers, and we successfully removed them. However, because of the ban on excavators, these machines piled up and created a new challenge. The only prudent option was to move them out of the port for safekeeping,” he explained.
Mr. Nikpe assured the public that there was no hidden agenda in the evacuation exercise and urged Ghanaians to disregard speculations of a midnight clearance. He insisted that the process had been carried out in the open, with cooperation from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and the military.
“We have been transparent from day one. The notice was public, the exercise is ongoing daily, and the locations of the excavators are known. They are not being hidden or secretly released. They are where the military gave us space, and that is where they are kept,” he said.
The Transport Minister reaffirmed government’s commitment to ensuring efficiency at the ports, stressing that Tema Port must remain decongested to serve its role as the hub of maritime trade in West Africa.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
