As part of efforts towards improving its operations at the Kotoka International Airport, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority is running a training program for its over 250 staff.

The division says this will help improve upon its staffs’ skills in properly examining goods and luggage that come through the country’s airport with the use of scanners while reducing the time spent by passengers during such processes.

Paakow Ekumah is the senior revenue officer in charge of communications and public affairs at the Airport Customs and he stated that this forms part of his outfit’s commitment towards improving its effectiveness and efficiency at the country’s airports.

“We are able to look through, we are able to get exactitude when we are doing examinations now since the number of scanners in the country have been increased. So it is not a new system we are introducing, it is a wave that is an enrichment of customs processes all around the world. The use of Artificial Intelligence to enhance efficiency and once this is happening as I said from the beginning, the customs officer wouldn’t waste time, he is also not going to waste the time of any importer or any person carrying any merchandise on him.”

He added that “Now we can also go into exactitude and can be very 100% when we say this container can go without examination or this container can go partially being examined or this container carries heterogeneous items, things that are of different types and shapes so no we can’t let it go so lets narrow it and do a thorough examination.”

The training will focus on scanning and image analysis, dangerous goods, radiation protection and nuclear security.