Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) have reiterated to the Ministry Of Transport the multiplicity of challenges that plague them each passing day, with funding as the main bane.
GRDA was established under the railways act 2008, Act 779 to promote the development of railways and railway services, hold, administer and improve the railway assets and to promote the development and management of sub-urban railway.
According to Mr. Abu-Bakr Siddique, Chief Executive Officer of the GRDA, the railway authority suffers a great deal of challenges making it very difficult for it to operate as it ought to. Considering the importance of this sector and the necessary investment needed to give it the necessary facelift and life it deserves, it is sad to say that we are nowhere near achieving our dreams if the necessary attention is not given to this all important sector.
To the surprise of the Minister of Transport who paid a courtesy call on GRDA, there was no dedicated source of funding for the established railway fund which is supposed to fund the projects of the authority. Unlike the road fund which has a dedicated source from the various tolls and levies paid by road users to augment the efforts of the transport ministry in road maintenance and construction, the railway fund account is empty.
With over $100million worth of backlog work to be done on the western rail lines, the ministry of finance has released a total of Gh1.7million which according to GRDA is just a setback considering that the contract was given eighteen months to complete the project and already thirteen months have passed and funds are hardly trickling in.
Amongst the many challenges facing the railway authority is the issue of land encroachment. The extent to which individuals have encroached lands and rail stations under the supervision of GRDA is a matter of concern which must be addressed immediately. A classic example is the Odawna Station which has been hijacked by traders. Several attempts to make this activity unpleasant has proved futile. The authority in the future is looking at walling their stations.
Again the operationalization of the railways act 2008, act 779 has become a very dicey issue which the authority is treading on carefully. There seems to be an unending banter between Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL) and GRDA. Despite the establishment of GRDA and its mandate to see to the operations and regulations of the rail sector, there seem to be a transitional difficulty between GRCL and GRDA. GRDA which as part of its functions is responsible for the issuance of licences, concessions and leases have had serious issues of job duplications and efforts which sees GRCL providing similar services to railway clients. This according to the Chief Executive Officer has brought about ill feeling amongst workers and also a bad relationship with GRCL.
According to the authority GRCL still has in its possession some transaction documents which makes it difficult for them to legally approach clients. The issue of land rentals and leasing is a major challenge, whereby, GRCL still takes rent from tenants occupying railway lands. Again, GRCL takes away rail lines and used facilities without the knowledge and consent of GRDA and this has caused some friction in the past. Meetings are underway to solve this looming crises.
The Authority again is faced with an array of legal suits and have found it difficult over the years to deal with these matters because they have not been able to secure the services of a full time legal director. Currently the authority is able to afford the services of a retainer.
Despite these myriad of challenges, the Minister of Transport encouraged GRDA to keep working at attaining the best of services they can offer. He acknowledged the challenges facing them and pledged his ministry’s relentless effort to salvage what was left of the railway sector.
Ghana has three main rail lines, namely, Western, Eastern and Central rail lines. The western rail lines was constructed in the year 1898. The eastern rail lines were constructed in the year 1908 and the central lines which is termed as more modern as compared to the other lines was constructed in the year 1926. Obviously these lines are very old and will need a huge amount of over-hauling to see it come back to life.
The Eastern and Western Lines which have the capacity to increase economic gains because of its strategic positioning for the transport of minerals and produce is the focus of government. About $300million will be needed to bring these two very important lines to life.
Its medium term plan is to upgrade existing lines and also the transverse expansion of rail line to the North. The long term plan of GRDA is to construct a total of 4008km of rail lines within the country from the North to the South and from the East to the West in the next 33 years at a total cost of about $21.5billion.
By David Acquah
