It was a chaotic situation at the long room and revenue unit of the Tema port following the visit of some National Democratic Congress (NDC) officials including National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi, former Minister for Trade and Industry Ekwow Spio-Garbrah and Bolgatanga Central Member of Parliament, Isaac Adongo.
The purpose of their visit was to ascertain the difficulties with the newly introduced Integrated Custom Management System, also referred to as UNIPASS.
Since the introduction of this new port-clearing system, which processes documents and payments through one window and intended to depart from the previous system where valuation and classification and risk management and payment were handled by different entities, there have been controversies regarding its efficiency.
Freight forwarders, in particular, have complained about some difficulties with the new system.
Some say they are either unable to clear their goods or are unable to clear the goods in good time.
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Upon arrival in the long room, Mr Gyamfi addressed the press on the contingent’s mission and proceeded to introduce members.
“We came here to engage with the stakeholders and to better understand what the challenges are,” Mr Gyamfi told journalists.
“We came here to see for ourselves whether the UNIPASS system is working smoothly or it is not working at all,” he said.
Not long into the address, security men stormed the place and asked them to leave, causing a momentary melee.
The team was compelled to move out of the long room to continue with their address.
