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By Iddi Yire, GNA
Peduase (E / R), 04 April, GNA – The Ministry of Education
Railways Development has a concession agreement with Ghana European
Railway Consortium (GERC) for the construction of the East Railway Line
project at a cost of $ 2.2 billion.
The 340-kilometer project, which would run
from the port of Tema to Accra, Koforidua and end in Kumasi; is a built,
Operating and Transfer (BOT), the government holding 30 percent of
share.
It would take three years to complete the
project; on which GERC would exploit it for 27 years before pbading the baton
to the government.
The project would have a secondary line in Bosuso
Kyebi in the Eastern Region to proposed bauxite mines in the region, and
it would also be connected to the inner port of Boankra in the Ashanti region.
Negotiations for a new standard template
The eastern railway lines were reached Thursday at Peduase, in South Akuapem.
Eastern District between Joe Ghartey, Minister of Railways
Development and Mr. Heinz Kroczek, GERC representative.
GERC is composed of 16 investment companies
from Ghana, Germany, Austria, France and Italy.
Some of the companies are the Keteke group
(Ghana), ARISU (Germany), Ralf Bankenbach (Germany), Havellandische Eisenbahn
(Germany), Voestalpine (Austria), IPIMED (France) and Salcef (Italy)
As part of the project, GERC proposes to build a
double line railway with maintenance roads on either side and it would also have
fences on each side to protect the railroad tracks.
The system would consist of three major
stations in Accra, Koforidua and Kumasi; with 30 additional minor stations
stopping points along the line.
The entire railway line would be electrified,
thus the locomotives and the cars would be electric, the first of the country.
GERC would also build a tie factory in the
country, which would have the capacity to produce more than 1000 sleepers a day,
with the factory employing 550 full time workers.
Mr. Ghartey stated that the result of the
negotiations would be submitted to Cabinet for approval, after which it would be
placed in front of Parliament.
He said that in 1898, it took five years for rail transportation
to build from Takoradi to Kumasi, however, at the present time of
technology he hoped the single line would reach Kumasi by the end
of 2020.
The project is the first of its kind in
magnitude, to execute under BOT in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr Kroczek, who is also the Director General
Responsible for project development in Africa, said the funds for the project were
from the government of Germany.
They would cover the whole technique
infrastructure, electrification, railway stations and rolling stock, among others.
Mr Kroczek stated that they were committed to
ensuring that the project remains an eloquent example of the Ghana-Germany partnership
Society.
Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Minister of
Planning, stated that the government's policy objective for railway development was to
systematically develop the national rail network as a whole and expand the
ability to support industrialization and economic activities through the
country.
This would ensure the integration of the rail
means of transport with other modes of transport in order to ensure a more sustainable environment.
Transport system.
Mr. Kwaku Agyenim Boateng, a Deputy Minister of
Railway Development, which gave an overview of the project, said during the
construction phase, 1,000 to 5,000 jobs would be created through construction
companies, architects and other service providers.
The operation and management of the train would
employ more than 1,000 people.
At the end, the movement of pbadengers on the train
per day would be 12,000 and 18,000 while freight movement is projected
four million metric tons a year.
"GERC believes that the construction and
Eastern rail line operations are changing the game for Ghana, "said Agyenim
– Boateng, said. "The benefits of the project are:
should increase the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by at least
1.5% per year "..
GNA
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