'The South Africans pulled out after COVID' - Joe Ghartey on botched Sky Train project

Former Railways Minister, Joe Ghartey, has attributed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic impeding on government’s quest to move ahead with the infamous Sky Train project.

According to him, key investors for the project withdrew as a result of the pandemic which caused delays and subsequently affected implementation.

Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Joy News, the Member of Parliament for Essikado Ketan noted that South African investors for the project explained their decision in a letter they wrote to him.

"The South Africans pulled out after COVID... What they wrote to me was that because of COVID, things have changed, they can't come. That is what they wrote to me, that we have to wait," he recounted.

When asked whether government should make plans to resume the Sky Train project, Joe Ghartey indicated that it is "up to them [government]."

“It depends on how much money you have, it [also] depends on whether the people are prepared to do it,” he added.

In 2018, the Ghana Sky Train Limited was established by Africa Investor Holdings Limited seeking to incorporate a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in Mauritius for the Accra Sky Train Project’s development through a Design, Build, Finance, and Operate arrangement.

The Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) is said to have made a $2 million payment to acquire 10 ordinary shares in the SPV for the project.

The project was later fraught with delays and subsequently hit a snag. In 2021, the Auditor General’s report labelled the transaction as a net liability.

MA/NOQ

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