"Future NDC Government Will Fix It": Sammy Gyamfi Says Tema-Mpakadan Railway Not Viable
- The Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, says the Tema-Mpakadan railway project is not viable
- According to him, the project, as executed by the Akufo-Addo government, does not follow the original and more viable plan left behind by the NDC government that had initiated it
- He said the project as it stands now would to be able to generate enough funds to pay back the loans used to construct it
The Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has described the Tema-Mpakadan railway project as a railway to nowhere.
According to him, the project initiated by the erstwhile John Mahama-led administration was destined to be a multi-modal transportation network to improve connectivity between the Tema Port and Ghana’s northern parts and beyond.
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He said the project, had it been completed under the Mahama administration, would have improved the transportation of goods from the Tema Port to the northern parts of Ghana and landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
This, he said, had led to the Mahama government securing funds from the EXIM Bank of India for the design and construction of an 84-km railway line from Tema to the Lake Volta Port of Akosombo.
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And, additional funds for the construction of the Lake Volta Port to facilitate easy transportation of cargo via the Volta Lake to and from the country’s north and neighbouring countries.
However, after the NDC government was kicked out of the Jubilee House following their defeat in the 2017 general elections, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government abandoned the original vision behind the project and opted instead to extend the rail line to Mpakadan.
The ruling government had also abandoned the development of the Akosombo Port, thus cutting short the plan to turn the lake into a major transport and logistics hub.
He noted that rather than the big plans they had for the Tema-Akosombo (now Mpakadan) rail line, today, the new project will only serve as passenger transport from Tema through Afienya, North Tongu, Lower Manya Krobo to Mpakadan.
He admitted that while the new project could potentially reduce the traffic congestion on the Afienya stretch, it would not be able to raise the necessary funds needed to pay back the loans obtained from the India EXIM bank.
This, he says, has defeated the grand purpose of the railway project and renders it unviable.
Sammy Gyamfi has vowed that when NDC comes back into power, it will revisit the original vision for the rail line and make the Tema-Mpakadan railway line viable again.
New train on Tema-Mpakadan rail line involved in an accident
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported that one of the new trains set to ply the Tema-Mpakadan rail line has been involved in an accident.
Railways Minister Peter Amewu confirmed the accident to the media and noted the train crashed into a truck.
The train was on a test run when the accident occurred, but no casualties are reported to have occurred.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
