The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has engaged security stakeholders operating at the Tema Port to evaluate the draft National Emergencies Contingency Plan.

The draft contingency plan forms part of GIS Strengthening Border Security (SBS) in Ghana project which is an initiative of the Government in partnership with the European Union.

Mr Samuel Basintale, GIS Assistant Commissioner, said the plan would undergo initial testing in an inter-agency simulation exercise at the Port of Tema on Thursday March 18.

Mr Basintale who is also the Chairman of the Technical Working Group that developed the draft contingency plan said, "we strongly believe that because Tema Port has all the statutory agencies working at the entry points, if it works here, certainly it should work even better at the other frontiers".

He said the plan when deployed would ensure that the needed synergy required from all stakeholders at the country's entry points during emergencies would be achieved for emerging threats to be eliminated effectively.

Captain Francis Kwesi Micah, Harbour Master and Chairman of the Port Facility Security Coordinating Committee, said the forum would enable the GPHA to put in place the needed guidelines.

He said GPHA would provide sufficient infrastructural and personnel support during such emergencies while ensuring business continuity.

Capt. Micah said the failure to execute proper security interventions during emergencies such as the influx of refugees through the port could result in the creation of other secondary problems like stowaway, terrorism, and importation of diseases.

The GIS Port Stakeholder engagement was organised in collaboration with the Integrated Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).

It was attended by key officials of the GIS, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), and Port Health Unit of the Ghana Health Service.

Others were: Customs Division of GRA, the Ghana National Fire and Rescue Service, Marine Police Unit, and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).