Coalition of CSOs in Ghana has called on President Nana Akuffo-Addo to as a matter of urgency intervene and stop the Ghana Link/UNIPASS contract agreement with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
According to the group the UNIPASS deal is a total 'rip off' which would not serve the best interest of the country, adding that "it is a serious affront to the Trade Facilitation arrangement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)".
The members of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations that organised the press conference yesterday include the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) , Good Governance and Advocacy Group Ghana (GGAGG) and Vanguard of Truth.
Addressing the media in Accra yesterday, the group said the port remained a strategic asset of Ghana's economy as far as trade facilitation; revenue mobilisation and job creation among others are concerned.
It said the ports' management must not be used for experimentation especially when Ghana had gone through a whole process for close to two decades and now had one of the world's most enviable port management systems run by GCNET and Westblue consulting.
"We are confused with the irony in this whole decision especially because government in the last three years has touted in no small ways the massive revenue drive that these two existing vendors have helped achieve," the group said.
"In view of these and other facts, we hold the opinion that, in a situation that government decides to make changes in the port system's IT Infrastructure, we as a country, must do so with caution and try as much as possible to avoid disorder. We think that the trajectory on which we are riding now is not only chaotic but suicidal," the group said.
GTDW China Trade Development Forum & Expo, 16-18 June Shanghai is Co-hosted with Shanghai Asia-Pacific Model E-Port Network Operational Center (SAOC) and partnered with Quality Brands Protection Committee, China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (QBPC) and Shanghai Association of Foreign Investment (SAFI)
The event will feature:
* Trade Leaders Plenary
* GTDW Global Trade Facilitation, Compliance & Digitalisation Conference
* GTDW Anti Illicit Trade, Brand & IPR Protection Conference
* EXHIBITION: Solutions, Services and Technologies for Global Trade, Trade Facilitation, Supply Chain, Paperless Trade, Anti Illicit Trade & Anti Counterfeiting
* Site Visits & Technical Workshops (Day 3, 18th June)
Event website: www.kwglobaltrade.com
Email globaltrade@kwconfex.com to see the full programme
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