Railway workers steal company property to sell as scrap

Railway workers have reportedly resorted to stealing the company's properties to earn income.

Metals at the various stations of the company, especially those at the headquarters in Sekondi are being sold to scrap dealers.

Joy News sources say the theft of company property is to make up for the poor working conditions and delayed salaries that have plagued the company for many years.

The workers are said to be poorly paid and until recently received salaries lower than the national minimum wage.

The company is hugely indebted to the Social Security & National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other utility providers.

In an interview with Joy News' Cyrus DeGraft Johnson, the Minister for Transport blamed the poor working conditions on the lack of investment over the eight-year period of the NPP administration.

“Over all the eight years there was no investment in the railway sector. The €90 million bond that was supposed to be put into the sector was never put in there,” he alleged.

He said government is bent on restructuring the company to turn the fortunes of the company around.

According to him many staff of the railway sector are over-aged, a problem government will duly address in the restructuring process.

He said his outfit is currently engaging its debtors by putting its productive assets as guarantees, whilst government stabilizes the industry.

“We are currently rehabilitating, doing the minimum intervention on the Western rail line and that will help us to improve hauling of manganese and bauxite on the western corridor.”