Joe Ghartey, The Minister of Railways Development
The Minister of Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, has disclosed the reason behind the settlement of Tema as the starting point of the Accra-Ouagadougou railway interconnectivity project instead of Takoradi by President Akufo-Addo and his Burkinabe counterpart.
According to him, the Tema Port, per the assessment of both governments through experts, was deemed more viable economically for the two countries and their neighbours.
He revealed that there were about 700,000 metric tonnes of goods from the Tema Port to Burkina Faso annually.
On the other hand, he said, there were only about 100,000 metric tonnes of goods passing through the Takoradi Port to Burkina Faso.
He was briefing the media yesterday at the Information Ministry in Accra on progress of the project.
According to him, Tema may become the biggest port in West Africa or Africa in the future. The port was not just created for Ghana but also for other neighbouring countries.
Progress
“Because of the re-engineering of the Tema Mpakadan line, we have done 100km already and we are going to take off from jumping. We are doing feasibility studies and at the same time we are also providing a potential investor on BOT basis,” he added.
According to him, the proposed railway line would then go through Ho, Hohoe, Jasikan, Nkwanta, Bimbila and Yendi.
He added that the line would continue from Tamale, Walewale, Bolgatanga, Navrongo and link Burkina at Paga – Dakola border (about 212km).
The minister observed that the Burkina Faso leg of the proposed line starts from Ouagadougou, Kombissiri, Manga, Beguedo, Garango, Tenkodogo, Bagre, Zabre, Po, Dakola to Paga, covering a total distance of about 320km.
BY Melvin Tarlue