The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has cut the sod for the construction of the first inland marine port in the North at Debre in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region.
The marine inland port comes with an accompanying industrial park in Yapei, the Multimodal Transport corridor also known as the Trans-Volta Logistics corridor.
It involves the development of a system to transport containers and bulk cargo from the Port of Tema to Burkina Faso and other landlocked countries including Mali, and Niger via the Volta Lake.
When completed, the Debre Marine Inland port is envisaged to appreciably contribute to the infrastructural and socio-economic development of the country, especially in revenue generation and job creation.
Addressing the people at the sod cutting ceremony last Friday, Vice President Bawumia said over 30,000 trucks that move goods to the landlocked countries on the northern borders of Ghana would be taken off the roads upon the completion of the Debre Inland Port.
To that effect, he said, the congestion at the Tema Port, which is often caused by the clearing of goods, would be reduced.
Describing the project as monumental, the Vice President added that it would save the country the cost of road maintenance.
“This will reduce the incidence of fatal road accidents we often read and hear about in the media,” he said.
“The investment in inland ports offers superior logistics the opportunity of large warehouses, proximity to rail and highways, ample truck packing, less traffic congestion and economic incentives,” Dr Bawumua added.
The Vice President also observed that the industrial park that would be constructed was an indication of business and economic preparedness.
That, he said, would attract such social infrastructure as roads, electricity, water supply and telecommunication services which are pulled factors to foreign investors.
“For a growing economy like ours, industrial parks are requirements for industrialization,” the economist observed.
He justified this to the development around the Tema Port, saying that the emergence of industries in that enclave is due to the port.
The construction of the port and the industrial part will cost $200 million and $250 million respectively.