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The Railway Resuscitation Option

By Daily Guide
Editorial The Railway Resuscitation Option
MAY 9, 2017 LISTEN

A railway line from Accra to Ouagadougou is not a pipedream but a feasible project. It would not only offer an important alternative to existing means of transport to the Northern Regions but would save the load our road networks shoulder by heavy cargo trucks plying the rather busy routes and curtail maintenance costs.

The dream for a railway link from the Takoradi Port to Paga did not start today. Governor Gordon Guggisberg even included it in his infrastructural development for the Gold Coast and sought approval from the Colonial Office in England at the time.

Like a Medical School for the Gold Coast which he envisaged did not come to fruition nonetheless we should be encouraged to do more towards the realization of the dream the hardworking Gordon conceived during his active days in our part of the world.

Today, as President Nana Akufo-Addo begins implementing his campaign promises, he has not forgotten the railway project. He told his host the Burkinabe leader during his courtesy visit to the neighbouring country as part of his West African tour that it is his intention to see a railway between Accra and Ouagadougou.

We are excited about a railway project about which a Railway Ministry has been created. Those who think this is superfluous, such a creation and the engagement with investors should leave them in no doubt about the good intentions of the President and his government.

The death, as it were, of the railway system in the country is a disturbing development. It used to be an important segment of the economy through which cocoa was transported to the Takoradi Harbour as was other natural resources of the country.

The President should leave no stone unturned towards the realization of this dream whose benefits are manifold.

Let us stop the unnecessary snide remarks which those of us on the other side of the political divide are wont to doing. The dividends from the resuscitation of the railway system can only be imagined.

Those who have been engaged to make this dream come true must put their assignment on war footing so that a lot would be covered within the time frame allotted for the project.

If we want to industrialise as we have always said even as previous governments paid lip-service to such remarks, the reactivation of the railway system cannot be overlooked.

Poverty alleviation and the unemployment scourge which have both pestered governments and the people for so long would respond to the treatment that would be offered by a full-fledged railway system.

We have observed the activities of the Railway Minister since assuming office – all geared towards making the dream of railway line across the country come true and ask that he continues on that tangent.

Our bond with Burkina Faso can only get better if we open a railway corridor in that country. The enormity of enhanced business activities between the two countries would inure to our benefits as would be evidenced from many more persons escaping the shackles of poverty.

We salute President Nana Akufo-Addo for not reneging on his promise on the railway resuscitation project especially its extension to the Northern parts of the country and neighbouring Burkina Faso.

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