Accra — The Minister for Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), Hon Sherry Ayittey, has said that "the environment is still low on the agenda of ports in the sub- region with associated danger and risk of becoming dumping grounds. She observed that "in today's world, ports that did not show care for the environment were seen as risky areas and could not attract serious investors."

Against this background, she emphasized that there was greater pressure than ever on both humans and organsations globally to take actions to reduce the impact of activities on the environment and therefore ports as business entities within the sub- region were no exception to this demand.

The Minister made these observations in a speech read on her behalf by Mr.C.K. Scott, the MEST's Chief Director, at the opening of the 1st West and Central Africa Ports Environment Managers Working conference at Tema. It was under the theme "Creating a Platform for Exchange of Experiences to Improve Environmental Performance in the Port Area and its Hinterland Logistics."

Ms Ayittey also said the ports were gateways to economies and the impact of goods and services accessing these gateways were not experienced locally but internationally. "Our sub- region has already suffered some bad experiences of illegal dumping, with the Probo Koala incident in Abidjan being the freshest on our minds," She added.

She explained that the current remarkable growth in information and communication technology has resulted in e- waste now recognized as the fastest growing waste stream.

E- waste, according to her, contains substances which can be detrimental to the environment and injurious to human health which may include organ , nervous system damages , brain impairment as well as other forms of respiratory and skin disorders.

The Minister for Transport, Hon. Mike Hammah, whose speech was read on his behalf by his Deputy, Hon Mrs. Dzifa Attivor, stated that more than 90% of foreign trade in West and Central Africa economies (WACAF) was sea bound with exports and imports representing about a quarter of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and to achieve growth in WACAF economies, trade must necessarily expand."

He also conceded that environmental regulations and standards were fast becoming requirements for development agenda and international trade on which ports depend to survive and that ports that do not meet international environmental regulations and standards did not attract serious investors and businesses "except for unscrupulous operators."

The Minister mentioned that it was rather unfortunate that ports in the sub- region had challenges in their capacity to deal with the common environmental challenges they faced. He said he was happy that the three - day conference sought to tackle some of the issues of ship waste, ballast water, oil spill and illegal shipment of hazardous waste and climate which have become global concerns.

According to him, the World Bank Global Economic Prospects for 2007 stated that economic growth would be faster in the next 25 years than it has been in the last 25 years. The report indicated the global output of the global economy should roughly double from US$35 trillion in 2005 to US$72 trillion to US$ 27 trillion for an average growth of 3%.

The Director General of the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority, Mr. Nestor Percy Galley, observed that the international nature of ports made them sensitive to global trends thus management of the environment is key to the ports' management.

He acknowledged the fact that ports all over the globe, like those in the WACAF Region faced environmental challenges, adding that some ports in Europe, America and parts of Asia have realized that ignoring their environmental challenges only means pushing the cost of clean up and the problems associated with them for future generations.

"Our ports in the West and Central Africa Region have so far not come to the realization that we need to cooperate , but are still operating as fragmented individual entities or think we are islands insulated from problems.

The Executive Coordinator of the of the Ports Environmental Network Africa (PENAF), Mr. Harry Barnes - Dabban, said the essence of the working conference was to identify and agree on common environmental challenges ports faced and find a common approach in tackling them .

He described the conference as a dream fulfilled in that from 1998 when he undertook his post - graduate studies in Municipal Environment Policy in the Netherlands and 1999 for his Masters Degree , his research findings with focus on the ports of Abidjan, Tema and Lome , revealed that there was lack of attention for environment in ports in the sub-region and accordingly decided to help find the solution.

Mr. Dabban was hopeful that the conference would help initiate the rallying of ports in particular and associated maritime sector operators to take responsibility and appropriate authority for environmental management and protection of ports areas. He said this could be achieved through a common framework and cooperation.