Date: Aug 19 , 2019 .BY:
Benjamin Xornam Glover
The Tema Regional Command of the Ghana
Immigration Service has engaged vessel owners and agents at the Tema Port
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| Chief Superintendent Martin Dzordzie (middle) speaking at the meeting |
The objective of the
meeting was to bridge the information gap between the GIS and the vessel owners
and ship agents, who they consider as key stakeholders in their operations.
Personnel of the GIS, the ship owners and agents
assessed challenges encountered by shippers regarding the law on immigration,
as well as residence and employment of foreign nationals in Ghana
Immigration Act
The Tema Deputy Regional
Commander of the GIS, Chief Superintendent of Immigration Martin Dzordzie,
reminded the participants that per Section One of the Immigration Act, 2000
(ACT 573), “a person in charge of a sea-going vessel, aircraft or vehicle
arriving at any port or place in Ghana shall not permit a passenger who
embarked outside Ghana to disembark until disembarkation has been authorised by
the immigration officer”.
He emphasised that appearance before an immigration officer on entering Ghana
Chief Superintendent Dzordzie
further indicated that agents must also ensure that members of crew of a vessel
which was in Ghana to work applied for and were given the necessary work permit
before they commenced work, stressing that a breach of that would result in the
application of appropriate sanctions by the Immigration Service.
Stowaways
The deputy regional commander reiterated the dangers associated with stowaway
and cautioned vessel owners and agents to conduct due diligence to avoid
incidents of stowaways conniving with crew members to board a vessel with the
aim of travelling to other countries, stressing that such acts had
international implications for Ghana.
According to him, in a
situation where a master of a vessel abets or permits any person to disembark
from the vessel or leave the confines of the port without authorisation, that
person commits an offence and is liable to pay the a penalty of $5,000,
stressing that failure to pay the penalty within 14 days is liable on summary
conviction to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or
both.
“The burden is on you to
bring this provision of the law to the attention of your partners outside to
avoid falling foul of the law,” he said.
Compliance
Mr Alexander Odoom, the
President of the Tema Berthing Meetings Association, whose main activities at
the port are to plan the vessels coming into the port and sail them out of the
port after the cargoes are discharged, commended the Tema Regional Command of
the GIS for organising the meeting.
He said ship agents
faced challenges, including unnecessary delays and bureaucratic bottlenecks of
immigration handling procedures and processes, and urged the GIS to enhance its
processes to ensure that vessel turnaround time in the port improved
tremendously.
A Maritime Analyst and
Intelligence Officer at the Ghana
Ports
He disclosed that
stowaway cases in the country had for the past two years reduced drastically,
stressing that persons detected to have stowed away on vessels originating from
other countries were disembarked at the Tema Port.
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