Parliament to discuss Nsawam-Accra railway next week

The state of the Nsawam-Accra railway line is to engage the attention of Parliament next week, Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi, Deputy Majority Leader announced on Friday.

The Deputy Leader informed the House that Mr Frank Annor- Dompreh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, would on Wednesday ask the Minister for Transport what the Ministry is doing currently to revamp the line.

The Nsawam-Accra railway line used to serve numerous commuters to and from Accra, the capital city, but is now grounded.

An Accra newspaper, the Daily Graphic has in a recent enquiry reported that a number of the bolts and nuts (fasteners) that ensure that the tracks are safe for the movement of the coaches are loose and rusted.

“Besides, most of the steel and wood slippers, some of which are said to be over 100 years old, are also rusted and rotten respectively. Many of them have sunk into the soil, with no ballast (gravels) beneath them,” the paper said.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA), in a telephone interview learned from Mr Annor Dompreh, that the line is in a state of neglect, and the metals forming the rails are being pilfered.

“The very poor state of the railway line is a big problem not only to the people around Nsawam and its environs, but the nation as a whole,” Mr Annor Dompreh said.

According to the Business Statement, Mr Annor-Dompreh would also ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts how much has been accrued into the Tourism Development Fund from October 2012 to date.

There would be also be questions related to Employment and Labour Relations, and Education Ministries.

Ministers of State may be permitted to make Statements of Government policy, and bills may be presented or taken through various stages, motions debated and their consequential resolutions taken.

Meanwhile the House has taken the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Bill, 2014 through the Consideration Stage, and amended the period of publication of any confiscated equipment or product and its subsequent allocation from any illegal mining activity from 30 to 60 days.

Mr Ebo Barton-Odro, First Deputy Speaker, who sat in the chair, informed the House that delegates had begun arriving for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region Speakers and Presiding Officers Conference to be held in Accra next week.