Accra-Tema rail project
yawns for extra 10 billion cedis
Accra, Nov. 29 GNA - The Government would have
to pump in additional 10 billion cedis to the
Accra-Tema Rail Line Rehabilitation Project due
to the discharge of effluent from the Manet
Housing Estate (MHE) on to the rail tracks at
Baatsonaa.
The extra money would be used to dredge
250-metre stretch of the line to a depth of five
metres; fill it with large boulders before using
suitable surface material to dress it up before
laying the new rails.
The project which was to be completed in August
this year had been delayed for another six
months.
Speaking to the media after a tour of the
project site, Mr William Ackun, the Civil
Engineer and Coordinator of the Ghana Railway
Company (GRC), said all attempts made by GRC to
get Manet Housing Estate to rectify the
situation had failed.
He said further delay could stall the ongoing
rehabilitation works on the Accra-Tema Rail
Lines, which was to ease the burden of
commuters.
He said the Sector Minister, Professor
Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi had also written to
the Management of Manet to build a treatment
plant for waste water but nothing came out of
it.
Mr Ackun, however, said even though the GRC had
instructed their Lawyers to send Manet to court
the GRC would have preferred dialogue to resolve
the issue so that Manet paid for the land
reclamation exercise.
Mr Michael Adjei Anyetei, Project Engineer,
warned encroachers building on GRC lands along
the Spintex - Baatsonaa area to desist from such
acts or have their structures pulled down by the
Railway Authorities.
He also called on the Management of Manet to
assist the GRC to solve the problem of the
liquid waste which had developed into ponds and
had become death traps.
GNA
