The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), takes it upon itself to absorb as many National Service Personnel as it can, to impart unto them the necessary fundamental skills that will prepare them for the job market and life as a whole.
Last year, GPHA took up 340 graduates from the various tertiary institutions in the country to undertake their national service in the various departments of the organisation.
A year on, after learning and participating in the port and maritime industry, one of Ghana’s vibrant sectors, the 2021/2022-year group are leaving to usher in a new batch of national service personnel.
As part of the NASPA week celebrations to cap of their stay at GPHA, the National Service Personal have made some contributions that are expected to make a lasting impact on the community.
This includes the refurbishment of the female surgical ward at the Tema General Hospital. The refurbishment comprised fixing of the ward’s leaking roof, painting of the ward, provision of ten wall fans, six cardiac tables, two patient trolleys, one-wheel chair, five dustbins, food and other essential items.
According to the President of the GPHA National Service Personnel, Bryan Ebenezer Sarpong, even though it took the group late nights to oversee to the completion of this refurbishment, they were keen to see it come to fruition.
They believe their widow’s mite will encourage other young people to support key institutions in the society no matter how small.
The Senior Nursing Officer in charge of the female surgical ward at the hospital, Cynthia Kwansah indicated that these donations have come in timely and will inject some significant level of comfort to the patients on admission.
“Our trolleys had been in poor state until these came making it difficult to convey patients to the theatre, and patients could fall if we do not take care. This among the other donations will go a long way to make things easier here,” she said.
The group also engaged in a blood donation exercise for the International Maritime Hospital which they believe will go a long way to help save lives.
The 2021/2022 National Service Personnel as part of their celebrations held a sports competition, a fundraising car wash event, a boat cruise and a dinner party.
At the end of service dinner party, the best performing service personnel were awarded for their outstanding service during their stay.
The Director of Port, Sandra Opoku was full of praise for the service personnel, particularly for the group that served at the Reefer Terminal for delivering an impressive thesis on their observations of operations at the terminal.
