CEPS
Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority has directed that the loading of scrap metals at the Tema scrap yards could not be done without supervision by its officers.
The directive, according to a statement signed by Samuel Akwasi Yankyera, Deputy Commissioner of Operations, was expected to address the deliberate concealing of ferrous metal scraps in loaded containers invariably labelled as cashew nuts and round logs and presented for export.
According to the statement, CEPS had to issue the directive to owners of scrap yards after it received information indicating acts by some exporters of scrap metals to evade the ban on the export of ferrous metal scraps.
The statement noted that all officers from the Custom Division should seal all containers and escort them to the export sheds before they were exported. That, according to the statement, would put an end to the illegal exportation of ferrous metal scraps by persons who concealed them in their containers.
It called on sector commanders to inform all scrap yards under their sectors, of the new procedures and ensure strict compliance so as to achieve the target of ensuring the ban on the exportation of ferrous scrap metals.
A leading shipping line which has its headquarters in Tema reportedly conveyed 3,506 containers of metal scraps last year. Because of the absence of officers from the Custom Division of CEPS, it was difficult to establish how many of those containers exported were loaded with ferrous metal scraps.
When DAILY GUIDE contacted the Chairman of the Ghana Scrap Dealers Association, Alhaji Salam Yakubu, he expressed worry over the exportation of metal scraps from the country, explaining that the trend was slowly killing the local steel industries which relied on the scraps as their raw material.
“We have five steel manufacturing companies in the country and all of them depend on metal scraps, which we all know is their raw materials. I can tell you that the exportation of these scrap metals is gradually brining to a halt the activities of these companies, with some of their workers sent home from time to time,” Alhaji Yakubu noted, quickly adding that if nothing was done about it, owners of these companies might fold up soon.
Alhaji Salam Yakubu, who also doubles as the man in charge of metal scraps at Tema Steel Limited, noted that as a result of the trend, some steel companies either turned away a lot of their workers on weekends, or did not work at all, associating that to the lack of raw materials (metal scraps).
“Some owners and managers of these steel companies, I can tell you, have expressed worry over the situation, with some of them threatening to shut down if the situation does not improve soon,” Alhaji Yakubu stated.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry, in 2004, banned the exportation of ferrous metals to ensure that there were enough metal scraps to supply to the local companies.
Alhaji Yakubu agreed with the directive from CEPS and pointed out that if strictly adhered to, the supply of metal scraps to the local companies would improve.
He further noted that illegal exportation of the metals was as a result of the soaring prices of scraps on the world market, which according to him, encouraged local scrap entrepreneurs to export instead of sell to the local companies.
From Razak Mardorgyz Abubakar, Tema
