SOME 1,200 freight handlers of Tema Port's Inland Container Depots (ICDs) will be laid off after the Meridian Port Services (MPS) terminal become operational later this year, reports Ghana's Daily Graphic. This was confirmed by Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) director general Michael Luguje who said workers will no longer be needed adding that the ICDs had been served notice to his effect. "We licensed them [ICDs] just for 2019 because past 2019, we wouldn't need to transfer boxes to them," said Mr Luguje. The ICDs were needed because of congestion at the port "before container terminals came into being, before the MPS terminal too came into being." The port is expected to be the largest cargo port in West Africa, and one of the best in Africa, with a capacity of 3.5 million TEU per annum, said the report. "With the coming into being of this new terminal which is going to have excess capacity to carry all space, inland containment depots will have no consignments," said Mr Luguje.