GPHA: Core environmental sustainability management systems crucial

The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has reminded all establishments operating within the port enclave to maintain sustainable operations in line with the Authority’s core environmental sustainability management systems.

Mr Garvin Amarvie, GPHA General Manager, in Charge of Operations who gave the reminder, said operators and the general port users must do their best to comply with rules and regulations put in place to ensure the smooth operations at the port as well as the safety of users, port personnel, goods and properties.

Mr Amarvie, who is also the ISO Coordinator at GPHA, stated during interaction with the media and noted that the Port Authority had voluntarily attained certifications with the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) in quality management systems, environment management, and occupational health and safety.

He said attaining some of the highest standards of work just like those in the best ports in the world was in line with keeping its mandate to build, develop, operate and manage Ghana’s ports.

He stated however that GPHA’s tenants, and operators within the port enclave did not necessarily need ISO certification before working in the port, adding that GPHA had introduced some Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) and regulations for stakeholders to abide by.

He said in line with this, “we have engaged the likes of GHACEM, and Dangote for example, who emit some air pollutants to come up with eco-friendly hoppers or dust suppression systems to reduce the pollution in the port area”.

Mr. Garvin Amarvie, disclosed that ever since GPHA aligned its operations with international standards, it had seen a boost in productivity, and client satisfaction, as well as reduced the incidence of accidents and cost of doing business at the ports.

The GPHA’s General Manager, Operations, intimated that being ISO certified had improved Ghana’s ports reputation internationally saying “Corporate Ghana gains a lot, the way we do things attracts investors which means opening up the economy for growth”.

He said the GPHA efforts to improve its standards, it was developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Kenya to collaborate for skills transfer among others.

Ms Frances Jemima Anabia-Tiah, Principal Corporate Planning Officer at GPHA, explained that the integrated SOPs were bound by the concession and tenancy agreements with port operators, so as to align them with the ISO standards.

Ms Anabia-Tiah said; “We inspect their machines, the working environment, and even their systems. So far, they readily avail themselves for these periodic inspections”.

She said that it was a herculean task, therefore the need for all stakeholders to collaborate with GPHA and share ideas as well as commit to streamlining their activities to the system.

She added that even though it was not necessarily for them to acquire their own ISO certification, they should try to implement the requirements of the certification and sync their operations with the system of the GPHA.