Thursday, May 27, 2010

TAKORADI PORT TO UNDERGO TRANSFORMATION (PAGE 23, MAY 27, 2010)

IT is welcome news that a master plan has been designed for the expansion and redevelopment of the Takoradi Port to transform it into a modern and vibrant one to meet the challenges of the emerging oil and gas industry.
It is inevitable that the oil find in the Western Region will pose various challenges to the management of the Takoradi Port and that the port has to prepare itself very well to meet these challenges.
The port has gone through expansion and rehabilitation since it was constructed and that it is important to look at this to see whether it has had an impact on the operations of the port.
In 1986, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), with the support of the government, embarked on a major rehabilitation of the Tema and Takoradi Ports.
The project was carried out in two phases; with the first phase including the repair and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure and facilities, the removal of sunken vessels and other wrecks from the harbour basin and the supply of equipment including floating crafts, cargo handling equipment and vehicles.
It also included the institutional strengthening involving technical and management training.
The project which cost over US$ 106 million was funded by the World Bank and co-financed by the European Union, the Saudi Fund and the OCEF of Japan.
The second phase of the Port Rehabilitation Project which started in 1991 included the dredging of the port to designed depths, strengthening of berths, rehabilitation of the sawntimber shed number two in Takoradi, a master plan study was also carried out for the future development of the port.
The second phase which cost over 27 million Euros was financed by a European Union grant, which covered 80 per cent of the cost), with the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority bearing the remaining 20 per cent.
The construction of the Takoradi Port began in 1923 and on April 3 1928, the port was officially opened while formal operations began on December 3, 1928.
Between 1951 and 1956, the port had seen the extension of the lee breakwaters, construction of berths four, five and six, bauxite and oil berths and passenger terminal and the construction of sheds four, five and six.
The past and present performance of the Takoradi Port shows that in 1928, less than one million tonnes of cargo were handled at the port, while 1,153 small vessels called at the port in 1956 with turn-round time of 14 days , while 2.3 million tonnes of cargo were handled at the port.
In 1993, a total of 438 big vessels called at the port with turn-round time of 24 days, while 2.3 million tonnes of cargo were handled at the port.
In 2002, 463 big vessels called at the port with turn-round time of 16 days, while 3.4 million tonnes of cargo were handled at the port.
The year 2003 saw 494 vessels calling at the port and 3.8 million tonnes of cargo handled, while in 2004, 465 vessels called at the port and 4.2 million tonnes of cargo were handled.
The projection is that in the year 2010 more than 700 vessels are expected to call at the port and that more than seven million tonnes of cargo are expected to be handled at the Takoradi Port.
What has been narrated above is an indication that the Takoradi Port has seen some kind of expansion to improve on its operations and also to attract more vessels to the port.
Even the master plan which has been reviewed for the expansion and redevelopment of the Takoradi Port was conceptualised as far back as 1991.
The master plan for the expansion and redevelopment of the port had been developed since 2001 and was expected to be implemented in phases.
The expansion and redevelopment of the Takoradi Port is long overdue and with the oil find in the Western Region, this project has become very urgent as more and bigger vessels are expected to call at the port.
Already many supply vessels connected with the operations of the oil rigs at the Jubilee Field off Cape Three Points are using the port.
Critical steps were taken to further improve service delivery quality, increase port capacity to handle more vessels and cargo, and increase cargo throughput.
One of the steps was to ensure the speedy implementation of the port expansion and modernisation to enhance berthing capacity and operational efficiency through the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) system..
The project was estimated to cost US$ 249,651 million and included the extension of the breakwater, dredging and reclamation, the construction of container berths and the improvement of the old berths.
It also included the extension of the bulk berth, the oil berth, small craft berth, revetment, pavement and provision of equipment, among others.
The benefits of the project were to expand the capacity of the port to handle more cargo and more vessels, improve cargo handling operations, reduce the cost of doing business, enhance the port’s capacity to compete favourably with its neighbours in the West African sub-region and increase its employment generating capacity.
Another step was to increase private sector participation to expand the port’s capacity to handle more cargo in the areas of warehousing/transit shed facilities, equipment, road haulage facilities and rail haulage facilities.
The bottom line is to make the port attractive and the corridor user friendly through good security, efficient handling of cargo, good customer service, berthing, storage and haulage facilities, competitive price and quick clearance.
A stakeholders’ forum on the proposed expansion of the port had been held in Takoradi, where a presentation on the development proposals for the port was made for the public to make comments and ask questions on the project.
At the forum, the Minister of Transport, Mr Mike Hammah, said the ministry had a significant role to play in the successful exploitation of the oil and gas resources.
He said the Ministry of Transport was aware of the maritime demands of oil exploration and production, including the gas by-products and was determined to meet those demands.
He stressed that the situation now, where services needed by oil companies were being provided by existing oil service facilities in Abidjan for example, could not be allowed to persist forever.
The minister did not mince words, since if at least the first phase of the port expansion is not completed before the oil starts flowing in the last quarter of this year, most oil vessels and service providers will operate from Abidjan in Cote d’lvoire.
The Takoradi Port, therefore, should not be denied the revenue that will accrue to it if the it is used for those operations.
The Takoradi Port is located strategically between the Tema Port and Abidjan. It is well connected to its hinterland which makes it the preferred and ideal gateway to the middle and northern parts of Ghana and the Sahelian countries, namely Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
It is serviced by all the leading shipping lines and leading clearing and forwarding companies.
Annually, the port on the average, handles 600 vessels, 37 per cent of the total national sea-borne traffic, 62 per cent of national exports and 20 per cent of national imports.
Leading exports include manganese, bauxite, forest products and cocoa beans, while leading imports include clinker, wheat, petroleum products and containerised cargo.
With the completion of its three modern sheds, the port now has a covered storage area of 140,000m2 and an open storage area of 250,000m2.
In addition, there are also private warehouses in the port area. Together, the port has the capacity to store a variety of cargoes. The port has a container holding capacity of more than 5,000 TEUs.
According to historical facts, by the early 1980s, three companies were operating in the Tema and Takoradi Ports: The Ghana Ports Authority (GPA), Ghana Cargo Handling Company (GCHC) and the Takoradi Lighterage Company (TLC).
By 1983, the conditions at the ports had seriously deteriorated; adversely affecting port services, as a result of inadequate cargo handling equipment, deterioration of installations and lack of maintenance and dredging.
The poor state of repair resulted in extremely low loading and unloading rates, excessive ship turn-round time at berth and high demurrage and freight charges.
On June 26, 1986, the PNDC government merged the Ghana Ports Authority, Ghana Cargo Handling Company and the Takoradi Lighterage into one corporate body, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).
The GPHA was mandated to plan, build, develop, manage, maintain, operate and control the sea ports in Ghana.
The key functions of GPHA include providing and maintaining facilities necessary for the efficient and proper operations of the ports, as well as carrying on all the business of stevedoring, master porterage and lighterage services.
It is also to ensure the efficient management of ports in Ghana, and shifted from landlord to service port, and that GPHA did not only own infrastructure and superstructure, but also operated them.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

CHIEFS SHOULD REMAIN OUT OF PARTISAN POLITICS (PAGE 14, MAY 26, 2010)

PARTICIPANTS at a special forum on consultations towards a review of the constitution in Takoradi have maintained that chiefs should stay clear of active partisan politics to ensure their neutrality, as well as the respect they command, in their respective communities.
They noted that politics was full of insults and that chiefs were likely to be insulted by their political opponents if they were allowed to engage in active politics.
They also submitted that Members of Parliament (MPs) should focus on their core business of law making and not be appointed as ministers of state by the President or only a small percentage of MPs should be appointed as ministers, instead of the more than 50 per cent, as it pertained now.
Some of the participants also suggested that MPs should be given term limits and not permitted to remain MPs forever.
They called for the curtailment of executive power, which made the President too powerful, particularly in the appointment of people to top positions in the country.
They suggested that the Judicial Council should be responsible for the appointment of the Chief Justice to ensure the independence of the Judiciary, as enshrined in the Constitution.
They also suggested that Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) should be elected to enable them to be committed to the people in their respective areas.
A senior citizen, Mr J.E. Amissah, proposed that those nominated by the President for ministerial positions should be vetted by the 25-member Council of State, since it was ridiculous for the Appointments Committee of Parliament to vet members of the committee who had been nominated by the President for them to later come back to vet others.
A consultant to the Commission, Mr Joseph Mantey, said it was important for all Ghanaians to help in the review of the Constitution, noting that it was the supreme law of the land but many Ghanaians had not had the opportunity to contribute to its making.

LET'S DEVELOP INTEREST IN DEMOCRATIC DISPENSATION (PAGE 13, MAY 26, 2010)

THE Western Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Kusi Aboraah, has called on Ghanaians to develop a sustained interest in the country’s democratic dispensation.
This he said would enable Ghanaians to become active participants in the country’s constitutional democracy as it strived to attain a higher level in the rating of good governance.
He said attaining good governance could not be realised without participation as it was a very important characteristic and a key requirement of good governance.
Mr Aboraah made the call at the regional launch of the 10th annual Constitution Week of the commission in Sekondi, which was on the theme: “Enhancing constitutionalism through effective participation for good governance”.
He said that effective citizens participation was a major ingredient of constitutionalism in the country and a key cornerstone of good governance, adding “Lack of effective participation is the primary problem of social inequalities”.
“Citizens must therefore participate in community meetings, write to their elected representatives, follow the news associated with politics, vote during elections and tell unit committee and assembly members as well as parliamentarians the effects of their decisions on local and national development,” he said.
Mr Aboraah explained that in the context of good governance, participation was focused on the empowerment of citizens, particularly women, children, the aged and the physically challenged.
“It occurs at various levels; the grassroots, through local and civic institutions; at the regional and national levels, through flexible and decentralised form of government and also in the private sector”, he explained.
He said the acceptance of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution restored Ghana’s constitutional rule after a long period of political unrest.
The constitution, he said, had witnessed five successful general elections and so far the best of all the republican constitutions that the nation had witnessed.
“It is in recognition of this great achievement and the need to avoid recurrence of the events that characterised Ghana’s unfortunate past that the NCCE had been developing various strategies aimed at getting all Ghanaians to understand the need to ensure the survival of this Constitution by observing its contents.” he stated.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

GREL ASSISTS SEKONDI CENTRAL PRISON (PAGE 29, MAY 26, 2010)

GHANA Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) has presented a 29-inch colour television, a video deck and stabiliser worth GH¢ 800 to the Sekondi Central Prison for the education of the inmates on the HIVAIDS disease, as well as their general entertainment.
The presentation formed part of the company’s sustainable development programmes for communities and other organisations
Last year, the company also set up an HIV AIDS Solidarity Fund with contributions from all employees of the company,realising an amount of GH¢ 6,828 to assist HIVAIDS-positive patients to access medical care.
Speaking at a short ceremony to present the items to the prisons authority in Sekondi, the Human Resource and Administrative Manager of GREL, Mr J.C Garbrah, said the company had trained 24 peer counsellors who were currently working in the communities in the company’s catchment areas.
He said HIV AIDS outreach programmes were organised at the company’s HIVAIDS centre at its clinic at Abura, in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region for workers and members of the communities to test their HIVAIDS status.
Mr Garbrah said the company would co-operate with the Ghana Prisons Service to intensify HIV/AIDS education in the prisons.
The Western Regional Commander of the Prisons Service, Deputy Director of Prisons Patrick Darko Missah, expressed his appreciation to GREL for the assistance, adding that the items would be used for their intended purpose.

GOLDEN STAR TO REACTIVATE PRESTEA MINE (BACK PAGE, MAY 25, 2010)

GOLDEN Star (Bogoso/Prestea Mines) Limited is to reactivate its underground mine at Prestea in the Prestea/Huni Valley District of the Western Region within the next 15 months to generate employment.
The company has already recruited 30 people to be trained at the AngloGold Ashanti Training School in Obuasi in the Ashanti Region to work in the underground mine.
It has invested US$40.8 million on exploration, care and maintenance of the underground mine since 2002, as well as dewatering the mine.
The General Manager of Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea Mines), Mr Nigel Tamlyn, announced this at the company’s engagement with the media in the Western Region at the weekend.
He said illegal mining activities had led to several openings in the underground mine, with water entering it, while blasting by the illegal gold mining operators nearly caused the collapse of the Bondaye Shaft.
Mr Tamlyn said since 1999, US$493 million had been invested in the Bogoso operations.
He said the company acquired the Bogoso Mine when it was insolvent in 1999 and the Prestea surface mining rights which extended the mine life of the Bogoso operations in 2001.
He said in 2003, it entered into a joint venture with Prestea Gold Resources when it was insolvent, extending the life of the underground mine.
He said after investing US$ 275 million in 2007, Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea Mines) completed the construction of its sulphide processing plant, extending the mine life again.
The Operations Manager of Golden Star Oil Palm Plantations Limited, Mr Isaac Quarm, explained that it was established in April 2006 as a subsidiary of Golden Star Resources Limited in pursuance of the mother company’s corporate social responsibility.
That, he said, was to promote the development of oil palm plantations in the mining communities using the small-holder concept, in partnership with the traditional authorities, the affected farmers and the plantations industry.
A total of 132 farmers, Mr Quarm said, had been allocated four-hectare plots each, adding that the traditional rulers had promised 8,774 hectares of land for the development of oil palm plantations, out of which 6,698 hectares had been offered.

Monday, May 10, 2010

ECOWAS PARLIAMENT TO BE ELECTED DIRECTLY (PAGE 14, MAY 10, 2010)

REPRESENTATIVES of member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament will be elected by direct universal adult suffrage by the end of 2010 as part of measures to make the parliament effective in the sub-region.
Whereas before and now, this privilege was bestowed only on elected national parliamentarians, by the end of the year, citizens of the community other than Parliamentarians of national parliaments shall be eligible to contest to become members of the Community Parliament.
It is envisaged that a directly elected parliament will play a more prominent role in the integration process beyond the present role of providing advice to the heads of state, the council of ministers and other community institutions.
It is also expected that the parliament’s role in the integration process will initially begin with co-decision, before it transforms into direct law making.
The reforms are aimed at giving concrete and actual legislative powers to the ECOWAS Parliament and make it relevant and purposeful as well as improving its public image and the quality of democracy within the sub-region.
The Leader of Ghana’s Representatives to the ECOWAS Parliament and Minister of Information, Mr John Tia Akologo, announced this at a press conference in Takoradi.
The press conference was to highlight activities of the ECOWAS Parliament and steps being taken to broaden grassroots participation in the selection process of future parliamentarians who will serve on the ECOWAS Parliament.
Mr Akologo said in pursuit of the above objective, the Community Parliament charged the adhoc committee on the Election of Members through Direct Universal Adult Suffrage and the Enhancement of Powers of Parliament to draw up a framework, identifying challenges and also propose solutions to the holding of direct elections of Parliamentarians by the end of the year.
He said the sub-committee in its report which was adopted by the Community Parliament decided to adopt the practice and electoral laws applicable in the respective member states as the mode of election for the Community.
“The electoral bodies of respective countries would be responsible for the delineation of national constituencies on the basis of national exigencies, having due regard to 30 per cent gender balance for an eligible place”, he explained.
Mr Akologo further explained that the decision was premised on considerations such as the prohibitive cost of establishing a new form of electoral roll and the 2010 time frame, adding “The authority of heads of states and governments of ECOWAS Parliament was expected to consider and approve the report at its meeting last January. Each member state would be a constituency and maintain the number of seats allocated to it”.
He said a well defined structure that would ensure free and fair elections would be made available in due course, adding that for now, it was important to let the good people of Ghana know the new course that the ECOWAS Parliament would be charting this year.
“A process that is fairer, more open and transparent and more likely to promote participation and choice from grassroots will be instituted”, he stated.
“A final decision on the adoption of the universal adult suffrage would be made soon, l believe at the plenary session of the ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in May this year”, he said.
The Deputy Western Regional Minister, Ms Betty Busumtwi-Sam, said it was a good idea that ECOWAS member states were to participate fully in the activities of the ECOWAS Parliament.
This, she said would promote democracy, accountability and transparency, since the people would now be involved in the elections of their own representatives.
Present at the press conference were some of Ghana’s representatives to the ECOWAS Parliament, including Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, MP for Bosomtwe, Mr Michael Nyaunu, MP Lower Manya Krobo, Mr Kwaku Balado Manu, MP Ahafo Ano South, Mr Francis Yaw Osei-Sarfo, MP Krachi West and Ms Elizabeth Sackey, MP Okaikoi North.
The ECOWAS Parliament or Community Parliament was formed in 2000 and has its headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.
Presently as constituted, the ECOWAS Parliament is an assemblage of members of Parliament from the 15 ECOWAS member states and serves as a forum for discussion, dialogue and consensus.
It has 120 seats as per the protocol that establishes it. However, at present its membership is 108 as a result of the withdrawal of Mauritania, which has five seats from the community and the inability of La Cote D’voire which has seven seats to assume its seat.
Each member has a guaranteed minimum of five seats and the remaining seats are shared on the basis of population.
Nigeria has 35 seats; Ghana has eight seats, Cote D’voire seven seats and Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal have six seats each, while Benin, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo have five seats each.
The parliament is headed by a Speaker and four deputy speakers and the position of the Speaker is allocated to member states on a rotational basis.
At the moment, the Republic of Niger holds the position. The current Parliament is transitional and its role is advisory and consultative, which means that it does not as of now have legislative powers since its members are not directly elected.
Representatives are elected by their national Parliament to the Community Parliament.

Friday, May 7, 2010

ADAMUS TO RESETTLE 2,000 (BACK PAGE , MAY 7, 2010)

TWO thousand people who are likely to be affected by the mining activities of the Adamus Resources Limited, operators of the Nzema Gold Project at Nkroful in the Ellembelle District in the Western Region, are to be resettled.
The company has acquired 150 acres to build 700 houses to provide alternative accommodation to the people of Salman, a community located near the company’s gold processing plant.
The operations of the processing plant can endanger the health and well-being of the community.
The Resettlement Manager of Adamus Resources Limited, Dr Stephen Yirenkyi, made this known at a ceremony during which the management of Jesus Open Doors Limited, General contractors for Adamus, presented a brand new 30-seater Nissan Civilian bus to the people of Salman.
The bus, worth GH¢113,000, is intended for the people to run commercial transport to finance their development projects.
According to Dr Yirenkyi, earth works at the resettlement site had been completed and that work on the project is expected to start by the middle of this month.
He said the company would come up with a resettlement scheme that would improve the living conditions of people in the community, adding that the company had very good plans for the people in the area.
Dr Yirenkyi explained that resettlement did not only mean the construction of new houses for the affected community, but also to ensure the social and economic resettlement towards a change in the socio-economic lives of the affected people.
He said the company was using local contractors to enhance their economic empowerment, since there was wisdom in it, adding that the company would also be environmentally responsible in all its operations.
The District Chief Executive for Ellembelle, Mr Daniel Kemambeku Eshun, said local contractors would perform very well when given the chance.
He said he would continue to be an advocate for the use of local contractors by the mining companies for most of their operations.
Mr Eshun called on the mining companies to assist the local contractors to build their capacity for them to live up to expectation when given the chance.
The Chief Executive Officer of Jesus Open Doors Limited, Mr Francis Coffie, said he would use part of the proceeds of every contract he executed in the community to assist the people of the Ellembelle District in their developmental activities.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

STANDARDS BOARD ORGANISES FORUM FOR IMPORTERS (PAGE 35, MAY 6, 2010)

THE Ghana Standards Board (GSB) has organised a day’s forum for more than 90 importers from the Western Region to carefully examine the challenges facing importers and the board and also critically address related issues of the promotion of safety, quality and compatibility.
It was also used to share ideas and exchange views on how to enhance sustainability, as well as good regulatory practice, and together play a collaborative role in the protection of consumers and the environment.
Presentations were made on “Inspection of high risk goods and its challenges”, “The role of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service in combating the clearance of counterfeit and sub-standard goods” and “The destination inspection scheme — A tool for consumer protection”.
In his presentation, the Chief Collector of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) at the Takoradi Harbour, Mr James Gaisie, announced that the service was to establish specialised units charged with the responsibility for fighting illicit trade in counterfeit.
He said the establishment of a specialised Intellectual Property Right (IPR) in CEPS would also provide a one-stop shop for addressing applications made to the service on all counterfeit products.
On how to combat counterfeiting, Mr Gaisie said the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and its member Customs Administrations proposed to adopt the WCO Model Legislation on Intellectual Property Right as a measure to curb the menace.
He said CEPS had put in place an administrative mechanism that allowed right holders to lodge application/complaints with the commissioner for intervention.
Mr Gaisie said CEPS, through that arrangement, had been able to make significant seizure of counterfeit cigarette, toothpaste and wax print at the Tema Harbour.
He said in 2005 counterfeit cigarettes worth $20 million were seized in the country, while in May 2007, 14 forty-footer containers of counterfeit Green Close Up toothpaste from China were seized.
The acting Director of Trade Facilitation at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr Ntim Donkoh, said the Destination Inspection Scheme was being reviewed to streamline every aspect of the scheme to ensure that punitive measures were meted out to those who submitted fictitious documents.
He explained that the Ministry of Trade and Industry was mandated to initiate policies in Ghana’s trade and industry sector and create the environment for the facilitation of trade.
He stressed that there was a degree of risk associated with every imported consignment and that that had safety and public health implications.
Mr Donkoh said high risk imports were flagged for inspection to ensure conformity, prevent unfair practices, promote competition and ensure full disclosure of information on the package or item and also eliminate illegal importation.
He said the systems were set up to protect consumers and so importers should co-operate, comply or face conviction.
The Head of the Destination Inspection Department of the GSB, Mr Kofi Nagetey, said in August 2003 the Ministry of Trade and Industry mandated the GSB to take over the inspection of all high risk goods from the inspection companies.
He said the advent of free trade brought in its wake fake, pirated, counterfeit, sub-standard and expired goods, as well as deception of consumers through improper labelling of goods, all of which had serious implications for consumer protection.
Mr Nagetey stressed the need to intensify co-operation with CEPS and other regulatory agencies and market surveillance.
The acting Executive Director of the GSB, Dr George Ben Crentsil, in an address read on his behalf, explained that the role of the board at the ports was to ensure compliance of imported goods with established technical standards/specifications in order to prevent the importation and distribution of sub-standard goods on the Ghanaian market.

MEN OF GOD MUST LIVE BY EXAMPLE (PAGE 29, MAY 6, 2010)

THE Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, has described as sad the many cases pending against men of God in the law courts.
He said there was the need for concerted effort by all, particularly church leadership in the country to help deal with this disturbing trend.
He said the constitutional guarantee of freedom of worship for all citizens had resulted in some people being taken for granted by charlatans.
“They have actually gone haywire without control from anybody,” he added.
This was contained in an address read on his behalf by his deputy, Ms Betty Busumtwi-Sam, at the 49th annual synod of the Sekondi Diocese of the Methodist Church in Sekondi.
The theme for the synod was “Oh Holy spirit, establish us in the Lord Jesus for a humble review of our commitment”.
Mr Aidoo said the church had become a money making organisation filled with all kinds of quacks and charlatans, who shamelessly paraded themselves as men of God.
“People who call themselves men of God with all kinds of titles and ranks have invaded the house of God and committing all manner of unthinkable sins right under the Cross of Christ,” he added.
These radio and television evangelists, he said, were all over the place spewing venom and sometimes deceptive messages to their followers, who blindly followed them and go to the extent of defending their nefarious activities.
Mr Aidoo said in the past, churches were the last place one would expect to hear of such crimes as incest, fraud and violence being committed by bishops, reverend fathers, pastors and other church leaders, adding that but now, the tables had turned.
“In view of all the overwhelming clout that some of these modern day churches are having in society, those of you who have been in existence for all these years have survived and are growing from strength to strength,” he said.
He said the Methodist Church had impressive credentials, as well as social responsibility initiatives such as education and health.
He added that products of schools under the church management had occupied high levels of national leadership for a very long time and continued to do so.
The Bishop of the Sekondi Diocese of the Methodist Church, the Rt Revd. John Harvey-Ewusi, said the proposal for the establishment of the Faculty of Administration of the Methodist University in the twin city of Sekondi/Takoradi had not been abandoned but it had been delayed due to financial constraints.
He, therefore, urged church members who had not yet contributed to the Methodist Development Fund, part of which goes to support the finances of the university, to see the need to pay and contribute towards this worthy project.

PRISONS COMMITTEE INAUGURATED IN WESTERN REGION (PAGE 42, MAY 6, 2010)

A TEN-MEMBER Western Regional Prisons Committee has been inaugurated to advise the Prisons Service Council on matters relating to the administration of prisons and the Ghana Prison Service in the region.
The committee has the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, as chairman, with the Western Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr David Yaro, as member/secretary.
Other members are the Regional Prisons Commander, the Regional Chief State Attorney, the Regional Director of Health Services and representatives from the Ghana Medical Association, the Department of Social Welfare, religious bodies, the Ghana Bar Association and the Western Regional House of Chiefs.
Speaking at the inauguration of the committee in Sekondi, the Deputy Western Regional Minister, Ms Betty Busumtwi-Sam, said it had an important role to play in ensuring good management policies for prisons and the Prison Service.
She called on the members to exhibit a high sense of commitment and dedication to be able to achieve the best for prisons and the Prisons Service in the region, adding, “Let us co-operate with one another and ensure that we discharge our duties effectively and diligently.”
The Chairman of the Prisons Service Council, Air Marshal J.A. Bruce (retd), announced that the government was working diligently to complete work on the maximum security prison at Ankaful, with a capacity of 2,000, to take care of high risk prisoners throughout the country.
He said the prisons faced many challenges today, including deplorable conditions, deteriorating infrastructure, overcrowding and general despicable conditions.
He said associated with those conditions were health, social and psychological issues that did not augur well for reformation and rehabilitation.
“We must all understand that the primary and principal purpose of the prisons is to serve as reformation centres to reform and rehabilitate prisoners, rather than harden them,” Air Marshal Bruce said.
He said the council was committed to ensuring that there were some reforms in the prisons, adding that it was working at expanding the prisons in order to introduce various initiatives such as education, both formal and non-formal, and work skills to address some of those problems.
“Our objective is to help make the re-integration of prisoners back into society very meaningful,” he emphasised.
Air Marshal Bruce said the regional prisons committees were to support the council’s vision of transforming prisons into reformative institutions.

419 SPRINGS UP IN WESTERN REGION (PAGE 42, MAY 6, 2010)

ADVANCED fee fraud, otherwise known as 419, which was hitherto little known in the Western Region, has sprung up, largely due to the recent oil find in the region.
Unsuspecting individuals are deprived of their hard-earned fortune by miscreants.
The Western Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Alhaji Hamidu Mahama, announced this at the annual get-together of the police, popularly known as WASSA, in Takoradi at the weekend.
He said with the oil find, all manner of fraudsters were coming to the region and using all kinds of tricks to dupe innocent people.
He said however that the police were firmly in control of the situation and would ensure that law and order prevailed in the region.
The region recorded a decrease in some of the major crimes during the first quarter of the year, compared with the first quarter of 2009.
DCOP Mahama said 375 cases of fraud in the first quarter of 2009, as against 5,620 in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 187, representing 33.3 per cent.
There were 54 murder cases in 2008, as against 53 in 2009; seven attempted murder cases were recorded in 2009, as against 12 in 2009, and 22 robberies each in 2008 and 2009.
The region also recorded 230 defilement cases in 2008, compared to 285 in 2009, representing a 19.2 per cent increase; 49 rape cases in 2008 and 47 in 2009, with 15 attempted rape cases in 2008, as against 16 in 2009.
DCOP Mahama was worried that the chieftaincy institution, which was regarded as a noble one, was gradually losing its dignity and respect in the region.
He said the institution was embroiled in land disputes, among others, which normally resulted in chaotic situations.
He mentioned Sefwi Wiawso, Asankragwa, Wassa Dominase, Amuni, Asankrabreman, Bowire, Elubo, Akyempim, Princess/Akatakyi, Apremdo, Akwidaa, Adjoa, Ainyinase, Asemko, Karlo, Dadieso, Sewum, Nyankaman, and New Yakese as some of the areas with chieftaincy disputes in the region.
He said illegal gold mining, popularly known as “galamsey”, was on the increase in the region, adding that that activity had caused considerable damage to the environment, as well as polluted the limited water bodies in the region.
DCOP Mahama warned some of the chiefs who were fomenting chieftaincy disputes and also conniving with the illegal gold miners to desist from that negative practice or they would have themselves to blame.
The Deputy Western Regional Minister, Ms Betty Busumtwi-Sam, said the police were not found wanting in their operations in the region.
She said there was co-operation among all the security services in the region for specific operations so the people in the region could count on them for future assignments.
She said the police could help reduce the carnage on the roads if they worked assiduously and allowed the law to operate.
The Flag Officer Commanding the Western Naval Command, who is also the Two Garrison Commander, Commodore Tim Appiah, stated that Western Region was very unique in the sense that all the security services, including the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, were represented there.
“Together, and with co-operation on our side, we can combat crime in the region to ensure peace, unity, stability and tranquillity for socio-economic development in the region,” Commodore Appiah stated.
The Takoradi Harbour Master, Captain F. Adjabeng, said the social problem at the port was the incidence of stowaway.
He said the 37 supply and support vessels for the Jubilee Oil Fields were owned by foreigners and that all crew on board were also foreigners.
He suggested that there should be a law to compel owners of those vessels to employ a certain percentage of Ghanaians.

FIRE VOLUNTEER SQUADS REVIVED IN WESTERN REGION (PAGE 42, MAY 6, 2010)

IN the early 1980s, the country witnessed devastating bush fires which caused extensive damage to its forest cover and arable lands, destroying both food and cash crops.
Cocoa farms were seriously affected, making many cocoa farmers in the country very poor and miserable. Most of them found it difficult to recover from the calamity.
The problem was compounded by the deportation of Ghanaians resident in Nigeria in 1983 which aggravated the famine situation in the country.
The many bush fires prompted the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to be proactive by establishing fire volunteer squads, particularly in the rural areas throughout the country, to save the situation which was getting out of hand.
The fire volunteer squads worked assiduously to educate the citizenry, prevent and fight the fire outbreaks in their respective communities and that contributed greatly to bring the precarious situation under control.
The squads were phased out immediately the situation improved and now nothing is heard about the volunteers who did a great job to save the situation at that time.
It is, therefore, heart-warming to hear that the Western Regional Command of the GNFS has revived the fire volunteer squads.
Already, 116 fire volunteers from the Shama, Wassa Amenfi, Juaboso, Bia and Aowin Suaman districts in the Western Region have been trained.
According to the Western Regional Commander of the GNFS, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) S.O. Cobbina, as a result of climate change and its effect on the environment, the Rural Fire Unit of the service had intensified its outreach programme to educate the various communities during the harmmatan season.
The programme, he explained, was premised on the re-training of fire volunteers, the intensification of bush fire prevention education campaign and the revival of trained fire volunteers.
The launch of the 2009/2010 anti-bush fire campaign took place at Obing, near Asankragwa, in the Wassa Amenfi West District on January 22, this year.
The regional commander said the command had mounted a series of campaigns on some radio stations to educate the public on the need to imbibe the concept of fire education and prevention in various homes and at workplaces, since it had been established that public-Fire Service collaboration had always yielded fruitful results.
Mr Cobbina presented a report on the activities of the service and the fire situation undertaken by the command for the first quarter of this year.
He said the year’s activities began with the intensification of fire safety programmes which were subsumed under the previous year’s activities, based on a strategic directive document from the Chief Fire Officer directing all regional commanders to pursue seriously the fire safety educational campaign regarding laid down procedures enshrined in LI 1724.
Mr Cobbina stressed that the command still maintained fire safety as its prime focus and that 55 organisations and institutions in the region applied for fire certificates and training.
He said a regional team had been assembled to compete in this year’s national extrication challenge to test the skills and competence of first responders in rescue operations and the saving of lives involved in road traffic accidents.
On the operational front, he said the command had eight fire appliances, including a first-aid appliance and a water tanker, which were all serviceable.
He said the Emergency Medical Technicians of the Ghana Ambulance Service underwent a two-week course in life threatening emergencies at the Sekondi Naval Base with the aim of improving casualty handling and other related issues.
He announced that 24 fire outbreaks occurred in the region during the first quarter of this year, at a cost of over GH¢5 million.
According to Mr Cobbina, they included domestic, vehicular, electrical, industrial, commercial and bush fire outbreaks.
He mentioned some of the affected areas as the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis, the Wassa Amenfi West, Prestea/Huni Valley, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Ahanta West and Jomoro districts.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

ASSSEMBLY UNDERTAKES MORE PROJECTS (PAGE 35, MAY 5, 2010)

THE Prestea-Huni Valley District Assembly in the Western Region has started constructing eight major projects to facilitate the effective administration and rapid transformation of the newly created district.
The projects include a central administration block complex estimated at GH¢1,147,463.07, a five-bedroom detached bungalow for the District Chief Executive (DCE) at a cost of GH¢140,035, four semi-detached senior staff bungalows estimated to cost GH¢115,000, a four-bedroom detached bungalow for the District Co-ordinating Director at a cost of GH¢108,113.69 and a guest house estimated at GH¢123,953.59.
The administration block complex, said to be the first of its kind in the country, will comprise 60 offices, two executive suites, two 50-capacity committee rooms and a 200-capacity conference room.
The administration block is expected to be completed in 13 months’ time while the bungalows are to be completed in four months’ time. The projects have already been awarded to eight contractors.
The chiefs of Bogoso and Petepom in the district have released a total of 430 acres to the assembly, out of which 60 acres are being used to construct the buildings.
The assembly has paid GH¢8,000 to the chiefs and GH¢80,000 to 27 farmers whose farms have been affected by the projects as compensation, while GH¢10,000 has been paid to 15 families who own the lands.
Speaking at a sod-cutting ceremony at Bogoso for the commencement of the projects, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, commended the chiefs for releasing the large tract of land to the assembly for the projects.
He urged members of the district assembly, the chiefs and people in the area to assist the consultants of the projects and the contractors to complete the projects on schedule.
The Member of Parliament for Prestea-Huni Valley, Mr Adu-Blay Kwofie, stated that the completion of the projects would facilitate the rapid transformation of the district.
He advised the people not to politicise the implementation of the projects to ensure their smooth execution.
The DCE for Prestea-Huni Valley, Mr Robert Wisdom Cudjoe, said most of the workers on the projects would be recruited from the district for them to earn an income.
The chief of Petepom, Obinfo Kwaku Appiah, appealed to the district assembly to consider the traditional authority in the award of contracts for the projects.

AAFRIYIE-ANKRAH ADVISES MMDAS TO BE ACCOUNTABLE (PAGE 14, MAY 4, 2010)

THE Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah has cautioned Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure that every deduction they made from the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) was approved by the assembly members through a resolution.
He said that every single deduction made at source should be through a resolution and that the minutes of the assembly should be signed by the appropriate authorities, particularly the presiding member of the assembly and submitted to the office of the administrator of the DACF through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for approval.
The Deputy Minister stressed that if an Assembly had not met to agree on any project through a resolution and signed by the appropriate authorities of the assembly, the ministry would not approve of that project.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah was speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on the District Assemblies Common Fund for the Parliamentary Press Corps in Takoradi at the weekend.
The workshop sponsored by the Office of the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund was under the theme, “The challenges in the utilisation of the District Assemblies Common Fund and the need to redefine roles of assemblies”.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah explained that when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) assumed the reigns of government it realised that there were problems with the deductions from the District Assemblies Common Fund and decided to put an end to it.
He suggested an increase in the quantum of money for Members of Parliament common fund to enable them to provide more development projects in their respective constituencies.
He noted that there were always problems during parliamentary primaries of the political parties, where party members wanted to kick out sitting Members of Parliament because they thought they did not do anything for their respective constituencies.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah urged the journalists to provide feedback on the utilisation of the Common Fund to the ministry since they represented the mouthpiece of the people.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo said through the District Assemblies Common Fund, the decentralisation process had deepened as the various assemblies drew their budgets and received funds from the secretariat of the common fund for implementation.
“Laudable as this is, the numerous deductions from the assemblies by the secretariat at the whims of a sector minister sometimes, without the approval of the assemblies, defeat the purpose for which the fund was established”, he emphasised.
This, he explained was because, the Assemblies might have planned and budgeted for a particular project but the deductions at source incapacitated them from embarking on such planned schedules.
This, he noted might be one of the reasons why Assemblies had many uncompleted projects, thus, retarding efficient service delivery.
The Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund, Mr Joshua Magnus Nicol said there were enough structures and systems in place to enable the assemblies to take up their roles.
“At this point of our development, l do not think there is the need to redefine the roles of District Assemblies, but rather to rekindle what they have to do and make available resources and facilities to make them function effectively,” he stressed.
He said it would also serve our purpose well if the various groups such as Assembly Members, Executives Committees, District Chief Executive, Presiding Members and sub committees, identified their roles and worked at them.
Speaking on the topic, “The need to redefine roles of the assemblies in the utilisation of the District Assemblies Common Fund”, he explained that in the utilisation of the common fund, the assemblies were obliged to ensure that the fund was used in line with the development programmes of the government of the day, and also met the needs of the people.
Therefore, he said it was incumbent upon every assembly to follow the rules and procedures and also put measures in place to ensure effective utilisation of the fund.
Mr Nicol said the District Assemblies were the highest political authorities in the districts, but they were to consult and liaise with the people on the issues of development projects.
He said the central government alone could not take upon itself the responsibility of developing the towns and villages hence the need for the district assembly concept.
“Assemblies work at the grass-roots level, and therefore believed that they will be in close contact with the people,” he stated.
The common fund administrator pointed out that the assemblies also had planning authorities and were charged with the responsibility of co-ordinating all development projects to be undertaken within the districts.
A Former President of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), Mr George Kyei-Baffour, urged Parliament to wean itself off the District Assemblies Common Fund in order to garner the strength to effectively oversee the implementation of the decentralisation agenda.
He said sections 91 of Act 462, which empowers the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to issue financial instructions and section 9 of Act 455, which also mandates the Minister of Finance to approve the development budget expenditure of MMDAs, should be repealed.
Mr Kyei-Baffour also said government should, as a matter of urgency, implement the composite budgeting programme instead of the current treasury re-alignment plan.
“Act 455 should be amended to take on board a District Assemblies Common Fund Board whose membership shall include representatives of MMDAs and other governance institutions to promote greater transparency and efficiency in the management of the DACF,” he emphasised.
Mr Kyei-Baffour called on the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana and other governance-related civil society groups to intensify their advocacy and lobbying activities to pressurise central government to stop all undue interferences in the fiscal programmes of MMDAs.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

THE SAD STORY OF GHANA RAILWAY COMPANY (PAGE 23, APRIL 29, 2010)

IT will interest many Ghanaians to know that the construction of the Takoradi Harbour, which was opened in 1928, was facilitated by revenue generated by the Ghana Railway Company, which was then known as the Gold Coast Railways.
The fortunes of the railway continued to improve and in the 1950s Ghana Railway was considered to be one of the best railway systems on the African continent.
But the company is now a pale shadow of itself.
At the height of its glory, Ghana Railway carried over two million tonnes of freight and six million passengers in a year.
That was in 1965 when the railway carried 419,330 tonnes of cocoa; 546,460 tonnes of timber; 276,750 tonnes of bauxite; 597,650 tonnes of manganese, and 447,930 tonnes of miscellaneous goods such as fish, agricultural produce and manufactured items.
That indicated a total carriage of 2,288,120 tonnes, including 965,790 tonnes of cocoa and timber.
All that while, the railway was a part of the Civil Service and so all its earnings (mostly surplus) were paid into the national coffers. The railway, therefore, did not control its finances.
Available historical facts indicate that when the decision was taken in 1896 to construct a railway in the then Gold Coast, it was to provide a mechanical means of transporting the heavy mining equipment to mining companies in the Tarkwa area in the Western Region which was attracting considerable attention.
A survey was carried out to locate a suitable point on the coast and in August 1897, Sekondi was recommended as a suitable location for the construction of a railway system to Tarkwa, a distance of 40 miles.
History has it that the construction of a railway from Sekondi began in early 1898 but it had to be suspended due to objections to the selection of Sekondi for the project.
The British Secretary of State in July 1898 held a conference at the Colonial Office with all interested parties and it was decided in the end to adhere to the original proposal of Sekondi as the starting point.
Work was then recommenced in August 1898 with the construction of a base with landing jetties, staff quarters, workshops, running sheds, carriage and wagons sheds, turntables, among others, at Sekondi, which at the time consisted of a few mud houses.
Heavy rains, scarcity of labour and finally the last Ashanti war hampered the progress of the work.
However, at the end of the war in 1900, work was re-started and the railway reached Tarkwa in May, 1901.
Thereafter, the Tarkwa line was extended to Kumasi with construction work begining in June 1901, and reaching Obuasi in December 1902 and finally Kumasi in September in 1903. The first train left Sekondi for Kumasi on October 1, 1903.
The choice of Sekondi for a lighterage harbour was informed by two considerations which were that the initial railway was from the coast to Tarkwa and that it was after the war when Ashanti came under the colonial administration that the extension to Kumasi was considered.
Again, it was considered that traffic volumes were estimated to be light and so a surf or lighterage harbour was favoured.
From the onset, both Takoradi and Sekondi were considered, but it was recognised that Takoradi was a superior location for a deep-water harbour. It was thought then that traffic would not be enough to justify the expenditure involved.
This was, however, proved wrong by the working results of the railway from 1903 until 1928 when the Takoradi Harbour was opened.
The benefit of the railway to the country in its early years is indicated in the table below:

Total Total
Year Revenue Exports Imports

1900 £585,583 £1,294,963 £885,446

1905 £586,221 £1,484,068 £1,646,145

1909 £778,552 £2,394,412 £2,655,573

The revenue consisted of customs and excise duties and other taxes and levies.
Of significance were the total exports which tripled in value six years after the introduction of the railway the major exports were made up of cocoa, manganese and timber.
Statistics from the Public Relations outfit of the Ghana Railway Company (GRC) in Takoradi made available to the Daily Graphic indicated that apart from the increase in trade that the construction of the railway engineered, the working results of the railway showed considerable amounts of excess revenue over expenditure which boosted the national economy substantially as depicted by the table below:

Gross Total Net
Year Earnings Expenses Earnings

1905 £135,000 £82,000 £51,000

1906 171,000 77,000 94,000

1907 166,000 77,000 89,000

1908 151,000 75,000 76,000

1909 185,000 74,000 111,000

1917 494,185 195,479 298,706

1918 456,574 197,518 259,056

1919 672,311 234,230 438,081

1920 706,262 365,309 371,953

1921 706,107 455,249 250,858

1922-23 877,893 398,340 479,553

1923-24 1,012,081 528,530 483,551

1924-25 1,066,560 551,733 514,827

1925-26 1,102,301 568,012 534,289

1926-27 1,156,453 572,882 583,571

With the increase in trade as a result of the railway, it soon became clear that the lighterage harbour in Sekondi and Accra, could not cope with the volume of goods passing through them.
Therefore, there was a clear need for a deep water harbour where ships could berth and discharge or load goods with minimum loss or damage
It is also interesting to note that the first power generating plant in the Gold Coast was installed and operated by the Gold Coast railway in the 1920s at its central mechanical workshop popularly known as ‘Location’ at Ketan, near Sekondi, to primarily supply power to the workshops, and the Takoradi Harbour.
Later power was extended to the Sekondi and Takoradi townships.
The supply of power to the public necessitated the government taking over the power house and supply operation by the newly created Government Electricity Department in 1947.
In railway operations, it is said that 70 to 80 per cent of the infrastructure are imported and therefore, needed imported spare parts to replace or maintain them to function effectively.
Available records indicate that the surplus revenue generated by the railway since its inception in the 1903 was taken for granted and that no provisions were made to modernise the operations of the railway.
As a result of this neglect by successive regimes, since the later part of the 1960s, the railway was starved of essential foreign exchange and local currency needed for the procurement of both local and foreign inputs for normal repairs and replacement works, with the result that the railway equipment, machinery and rolling stock inevitably started to deteriorate.
The vicious cycle that set in affected traffic, which declined as a result of decline in efficiency and reliability of its operations.
So, like any organisation in a state of decline, the best talent started leaving the railway and the skill and brain drain caused untold damage to the system, and the railway was beset by crisis after crisis and its self-regulatory system collapsed with adhocism becoming the order of the day.
The decline of the Ghana Railway was further worsened when in the early 1970s an uncontrolled proliferation of heavy road articulated trucks came in to take over the haulage of cocoa and timber to the ports.
By 1983, the once proud Ghana Railway was down on its knees, and had virtually collapsed and was carrying fractions of what it used to do-a total of 350,000 tonnes of freight and less than two million passengers a year.
In the early 1980s when the then government launched the Economic Recovery Programme, the railway network was recognised as very crucial to the transport needs of the economy.
The rehabilitation of the railway system was therefore, accepted as a very vital and that efforts were made to rebuild the lost capacity of the railway through rehabilitation of infrastructure and acquisition of rolling stock.
The rehabilitation, which was undertaken in phases, commenced in 1983 and by 2003 (20 years later) US$256 million had been invested in the Ghana Railway Company.
With the huge amount of money invested in it, it was expected that the railway system would be resuscitated to function efficiently and effectively to contribute meaningfully to the country’s economic development.
The first phase of the rehabilitation of the railway which started in 1983 covered the Western Railway Line which carried most of the freight and about half of the passenger traffic and it covered the rehabilitation of the track, signals and telecommunication system.
The Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Railway Company, Mr James Abeka-Amuah, explained to the Daily Graphic that the rehabilitation achieved its basic objectives and revived the Western Railway Line.
However, he said, the strategies to attract more traffic received a setback due to acute shortage of locomotives.
That, he said, inhibited the realisation of the full potential of the rehabilitated line.
Mr Abeka-Amuah further explained that by 1998, 10 years after the rehabilitation when new locomotives were procured, the Western line had started deteriorating and could not support the locomotives in operations.
“With the arrival of the locomotives, it was also realised that the wagons for the haulage of bauxite, manganese and timber were too old,” he said, adding that “these wagons, at the time (1998), were between 40 and 45 years old and had outlived their usefulness”.
He said at the same time also, the Ghana Bauxite Company and the Ghana Manganese Company expressed their readiness to export one million tonnes each of the ore and wanted the railway to provide the capacity.
He said GRC accepted the challenge and initiated action to procure 160 high capacity new mineral wagons with funds from the private sector.
Consequently, he said the GRC floated tenders for the financing and supply of the mineral wagons, materials and equipment for the strengthening of tracks and improvement to the signalling and telecommunication system on the Takoradi-Awaso line.
However, he said, the Ministry of Finance indicated that since the loan facility offered by the private sector was non-concessional, and that the Ghana Government could not issue guarantee notes to cover the facility.
Therefore, the effort to purchase new wagons using private sector financing had to be abandoned.
Mr Abeka-Amuah said the Ghana Bauxite Company and the Ghana Manganese Company were then approached and that they offered to assist GRC to procure refurbished wagons and also strengthen some sections of the track from Nsuta to Awaso the two mining centres in the Western Region.
“With no option and imminent collapse starring GRC in the face, the offer was accepted.
“This was in the year 1999,” he explained.
Together, he said, the two companies provided US$7.705 million for the purchase of 125 wagons whose lifespan was 10 years and that the wagons arrived in the later part of 2000 and were immediately put into service.
He said repayment of the loans began in March 2001 and was expected to end in early 2005.
He said another project which commenced in the mid-2000 was the rehabilitation of the 154 passenger coaches purchased from the then German Democratic Republic in 1986.
He said the German government, through KFW, provided five million Deutsche-Marks for the work but it was enough to rehabilitate only 46 coaches.
“As the railway stands now the tracks are weak after the rehabilitation carried out about 21 years ago. The signalling and telecommunication system is nothing to write home about,” he said, adding, “The mineral wagons, with limited lifespan, are not what the GRC would have ordered if it had the free hand to operate. At the moment the passenger coaches are dilapidated and need to be refurbished.”
Mr Abeka-Amuah said after the mineral companies had deducted the loan repayment with interest, the GRC was left with nothing to expend on its operations and also pay workers.
He explained that the vision of the railway was to become the market leader in freight and passenger transport in its corridors of operations.
This, he said, required that the railway was equipped to play a central and positive role in the national economy.
Towards this end, and in order to develop the railway into a commercially viable enterprise, the government proposed to restructure its operations through concessionary arrangements to introduce substantial private sector participation in the management and financing of railway operations, he said.
He said the programme, which was being handled by the Divestiture Implementation Committee, encountered some difficulties which slowed down the negotiations considerably.
He said if an organisation was placed on divestiture, no further investment by the government was allowed, and that with stalled negotiations, no governmental financial support, and low tariffs paid by Ghana Bauxite Company and Ghana Manganese Company and no cocoa to haul.
He noted that significant structural and technological changes continued to take place within the railway industry world-wide.
These changes, Mr Abeka-Amuah said, imposed increasing challenges for governments in the developing countries and call for more capital investment for modification and expansion of railway infrastructure, acquisition of modern locomotives and wagons and improved managerial capabilities.
“The benefits of an efficient railway to a country like Ghana are enormous,” he stressed, adding, “The rail network was designed to provide vital support to the export sector in which commodity export such as cocoa, timber, bauxite and manganese play a dominant role”.
Mr Abeka-Amuah stressed that if greater proportions of cocoa and timber went to the port by rail, they became competitive on the world market because of the railway’s inherent economy of low incremental cost.