President Mahama at the commissioning. INSET: One of the trains
President John Dramani Mahama last Saturday began a two-day campaign tour of the Western Region with a promise to expand road infrastructure and improve other infrastructural projects in the area if re-elected in the upcoming poll.
The president first commissioned the reconstructed Sekondi to Kojokrom rail line and two sets of diesel multiple units trains to run services between Sekondi and Takoradi via Kojokrom.
The project consists of the development of 5km single lane from Kojokrom to Sekondi and 10km from Kojokrom to Takoradi.
It comes with ultra-modern terminals at Kojokrom, Sekondi and Takoradi, four halt at the Sekondi Prisons, Ketan, Bakado and Esaman for passengers to alight while others get on board.
The sub-urban rail network project, an initiative of the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA), was constructed by Amandi Holdings and was funded by the Government of Ghana.
President Mahama pointed out, “The government’s commitment in revamping the rail line system in Ghana had been systematic, consistent and strategic and my second term in office will mark a new era in the development of railways in Ghana.”
According to him, government was already prioritizing the sector by revamping some old rail lines and securing loans to build new ones.
The president recounted, “In 2010 government rebuilt and commissioned the rail line from Asopotsonaa to the Tema harbor. In 2013, the line was further extended to Community One in Tema to provide a continuous rail journey from the heart of Accra to the centre of Tema Township. Today we are commissioning a similar effort by government.”
Government, he said, would continue work on the reconstruction of the Eastern Railway line from Tema to Kumasi via Boankra Inland Port; build sub-urban railway lines between Accra-Amasaman-Nsawam and Kumasi-Ejisu and also continue work on the Tema-Akosombo line.
Misplaced Project
Meanwhile, some of the residents in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis have described the Sekondi-Kojokrom railway project as a misplaced priority.
Speaking during the phone-in segment of a programme on some radio stations in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, some of the residents noted that government could have done the people of the Western Region a lot of good, if the project had been extended to Tarkwa as well as mining and cocoa growing communities to improve economic activities tremendously.
Create Prestea District
At Prestea, the Divisional Chief of Himan-Prestea, Nana Nteboah Prah IV, appealed to the president to carve Prestea out of the Prestea-Hunni Valley District and make it a district on its own to benefit from developmental projects.
Nana Nteboah also pleaded with President Mahama to construct a new polyclinic for the people of Himan and also expand the Prestea Government Hospital.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi