About 95 percent of work on the first phase of the Inland Clearing Depot in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis in the Western Region has been completed. It is expected that work on the $65 million project, otherwise known as the Takoradi Container Terminal (TACOTEL), will be completed by August this year.
An initiative of a private investor, Ibistek Company, the project seeks to decongest the Takoradi Port to pave the way for the ongoing expansion works at the port.
The project, which started in April 2016, involves the demolition of existing structures on the acquired land and putting up a warehouse, a container freight station and floodlighting systems.
By March 4, 2017, the first entry of containers from the main port to the terminal will start arriving to free the hitherto congested port.
Arterial roads
The second phase (Phase Two) of the project, which will cost $350 million, will consist of the construction of arterial roads in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis to ease traffic and the building of railway lines from the port to the terminal to facilitate transportation of cargoes.
In June this year, work is expected to commence on the second phase of the project, which is being executed by Justmoh Construction Limited.
Cal Bank Limited is sourcing funds towards the successful completion of the project, described by observers as a huge investment in the metropolis.
Stakeholders’ meeting
At a stakeholders’ meeting at the project site, near New Takoradi the Company Secretary of Ibistek, Mr Kwame Gyan, and the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) Director of Urban Roads, Mr Michael Dzisi, took turns to brief the participants on the level of work on the project.
Mr Gyan explained that the project was being executed within the legal framework of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).
“The GPHA has the right and mandate under its agreement to release part of its concession to any investor to join in its operations.
“The current infrastructural development at the terminal is 100 per cent funded by the investor company,” Mr Gyan further indicated.
He added that all the necessary documentation on the project, including a preliminary impact assessment (PIS), had been secured, and that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was still working to provide an environmental impact assessment (EIA).
“TOCATEL is inextricably linked with the GPHA and it is designed to free the port of containers,” he said and added that all activities would now be handled at the Inland Clearing Depot.
Mr Gyan stated that all the civil works were being undertaken by local contractors, pointing out that it was a source of employment for people in the neighbourhood.
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