NPP communicator blames COVID-19 for failure of sky train project

George Ayisi, a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party’s communication team has said that the failure of the government of Ghana to ensure the commencement of the ambitious Accra Skytrain project is partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking on TV3 morning show, the party communicator who also doubles as the Public Relations Officer of the National Disaster Management Authority said the outbreak of the 2020 pandemic partly led to the failure of the companies involved coming through after the signing of an initial agreement with the government.

“After 2019 November signing, in January, February, March (2020) we all saw COVID hit and then two of the major countries involved; Ghana and South Africa was on lockdown.

“Read the literature of the whole issue, COVID is a key reason why it didn’t take off at the time it was to have taken off and so that is it; lockdown in South Africa, lockdown in Ghana and then they had to wait,” he said.

The assertion by Mr Ayisi comes on the back of a statement by the former Minister of Railways Development and New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential aspirant for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Joe Ghartey, denying that his ministry had entered the agreement that led to the payment of some $2 million by the government of Ghana to AI Sky for the commencement of the project.

According to the former minister, the payment rather may have been issued by the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund.

“And so as far as my Ministry is concerned, we did not give them any money. I didn’t have any money and I didn’t have the power to pay any money and I did not pay any money. I don’t have the power to write for payment to the company in Mauritius. GIIF [Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund] is the statutory corporation that has the power to make such payments and so you can ask them,” he stated.

He emphasised that at the beginning, he welcomed the project as a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) Project but made it clear to the developers that the ministry did not have the resources to fund it.

According to Ghartey, who is also the Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan, the Ministry of Railways Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding in February 2018 and signed another agreement with the promoters in November 2018.

He added that in 2019, the ministry signed a concession agreement with the promoters which included several conditions precedent.

However Mr Ayisi during his appearance on TV3’s New Day maintained that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused the delay of the project and that the parties involved remain hopeful despite a statement by the current minister ruling the project out.

“Thereafter [after the outbreak of the pandemic] it stretched up to this point where we are hearing the current minister for railway saying it is not going to come on again but I don’t know whether that is the formal official position because other partners in it are hoping…” he stated.

The Skytrain project has become topical in the past few days after the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini, has called on the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, to look into the payment of $2 million to the investors for the Sky Train deal by the government.

According to him, it is shocking that such an amount of money would be paid to investors without any work done given the current economic predicament the country finds itself in, 3news.com reports.

The MP said that the Attorney-General must look into the transaction because it is clear that taxpayers' money has been squandered by the persons involved.

GA/SARA

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