Seven Firms Shows Interest In Railways

The government’s commitment to revmap the railways system, has received positive responses from international companies.

So far, seven foreign companies from Great Britain, South Africa, and Australia have shown interest in the project. Railway Ports and Harbours Minister, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi disclosed this in an interview in Accra yesterday.

Following the encouraging responses from the big railway firms, a bidders conference for the railway sector has been slated for September 20.

The conference, which is meant to bring together experienced stakeholders both local and foreign, underscores the important nature of the sector and puts responsibility on the government to ensure that suitable investors are selected for the job.

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi said that the government, in anticipation of this task, had designed a transparent bidding process to attract the right calibre of companies to be given the concession to manage the country’s railway system.

The first phase would centre on the non-core areas of railways operations, which include the refurbishment of stations and some important infrastructure essential to the operations of the sector.

The second phase, would address the main issues of railway lines and the coaches. According to the sector minister, the bidding process would stay open till December 2003 to enable the government to rope in more companies.