$90m for rail sector 'missing'

Transport Minister, Mike Hammah, says about $90 million the Kufuor administration claimed to have allocated to the railway sector cannot be traced.

Last year, when rail workers went on strike, the Kufuor administration said the amount had been voted for the rehabilitation of the country’s rail transport system.

Government announced that a whopping $90 million has been voted to rehabilitate the railways.

Mr. Hammer told railway workers in Takoradi that he has studied files and accounts of the ministry for months but he is unable to trace the money.

The minister made this known when he met workers of the Ghana Railway company in Takoradi.

He also announced that government has made readily available a sum of $2 million for the rehabilitation of the Western railway line.

He said the Workers' Bargaining Agreement has been reopened for the first time in eight years, stressing, government recongnises the role rail workers play in the economy.

"The only way we can sustain and accelerate our economic development is to ensure that we can revitalise our railways," he indicated.

The minister emphasised that rail transport is a comparatively cheaper means of transport and that all efforts will be done to revitalise it.