Joe Ghartey at Nene Sakite Palace, also at Akwamu fie
The Minister of Railways Development Joe Ghartey has revealed that government is fervently preparing to revive the railway sector in the country to resolve challenges associated with transportation in the country.
According to him, since his ministry has been tasked to undertake the project, there is the need to collaborate with chiefs in order to find ways to properly implement the policies.
The Minister made this known over weekend when he travelled to the Eastern Region to meet the Traditional Council of Manya Klo, Yilo Klo, Akwamufie.
He met other opinion leaders to find ways to acquire lands for the reconstruction of railway lines.
He said in December last year, his outfit reviewed the US$21.5 billion railway master plan, which was developed in 2013 to construct a new railway network that comprises 4,007.6 kilometres across the country in 30 years.
He added that the railway master plan is expected to be completed in six phases, with the first phase being the rehabilitation of existing rail lines.
“The second phase will deal with the extension of the central corridor, while the third phase will tackle the extension of the transversal links. The fourth phase will look at extending the Trans-ECOWAS line, while the fifth phase will aim at extending the Western line.”
The Minister also urged the chiefs and land owners to release lands to the government for the development of the country, adding that people, who are likely to lose their lands as part of the railway construction across the country would be compensated.
Akwamufie
At Akwamufie, the Paramount Chief of the traditional area, Odeneho Nana Kwafo Akoto II, tasked the ministry to involve chiefs in their operations to ensure that compensations are paid to affected land owners.
The Paramount Chief noted that most people depend on land for farming activities.
Odeneho Kwafo Akoto II also pledged their unflinching support for the ministry, urging it to fulfill its promises.
Yilo Krobo
The Paramount Chief of Yilo Krobo Nene Sakite II reiterated government’s commitment to constructing the railway lines to develop the country and create jobs for the youth.
Nene Sakite stressed that “even though government needs our land, there should an assurance that lands leased out would be used for the intended purpose.”
Background
The construction of the 84 kilometer railway lines from Tema to Akosombo began in December, 2017 at the cost of $388 million.
The project, which is being funded with a loan from the EXIM bank, forms part of plans to revive the railways sector in Ghana to boost trade.
The Tema-Akosombo Railway project would include the construction of rail tracks of standard gauge, maintenance of facilities for locomotive and wagons and building of stations at specific locations.
Travel speed for the trains is expected to be 210km/h as against the speed of 56km/h for the current trains in the country.
Mr Ghartey was accompanied by a delegation from AFCON Infrastructure Development from India, as well as Team International from Italy, Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, MMDCEs and the party’s executives in the region.
From Daniel Bampoe, Akwamu Fie