Minister for Railway Development, Mr. Joe Ghartey, has assured Ghanaians of a major boost in the sector, given the kind of investment it has started receiving and the commitment shown by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo to see to its revamp.
He thus indicated to the handful of staff at the Ghana Railway Development Authority that, their decision to stay when the fortunes of the industry dwindled were about yielding good results, since those investments were going to turn things around.
“This is the time for those who still believed in the industry and stayed when fortunes went down to smile because the kind of investment coming into the sector would not make you regret your decision”, Mr. Ghartey, specified at a send-off ceremony for Mr. Alidu Abubakar Sadique, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Railway Development Authority who is due for retirement in Accra, on Thursday.
The sector Minister noted that the railway sector is a small sector with few people with expertise; hence, though Mr. Abubakar is due for retirement, there would be the need to engage experienced hands like him to help with the revamping of the railway.
The Minister, who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Essikado Ketan Constituency, said works on the restructuring of the railway sector with the reconstruction of the railways along the Eastern and Western lines have kicked started.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ghartey believes that if Ghana’s economic transformation would dwell on the railway sector, there should be a separate regulator for the industry.
Currently, Act 779 of the Railway Act, 2008 gives Ghana Railway Development Authority the power to license and regulate as well as to promote the development of railways and railway services.
Comparing it to Civil Aviation and Ghana Maritime authorities, Hon. Ghartey was of the view that the railway would move faster in development if the sector had its own regulatory body to whip in line those who would work on the railway lines on the eastern and western corridors while the authority concentrates on development promotion.
Touching on the Tema to Akosombo railway which is expected to link the ports of Tema to the inland ports of Akosombo, the Minister noted that the investor would work within time lines to accelerate cargo movement from the port which will in turn improve vessel turnaround time.
Mr. Joe Ghartey said a revamping of the railway sector would improve the lives of Ghanaians and productivity, by reducing the stress people go through using congested roads, as they are forced to spend several hours in traffic.
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