Yesterday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut tape to commission the 900m Afienya Road Over Bridge project, which forms part of the new 97.7-kilometre standard gauge railway line from Tema to Mpakadan.
The commissioning of the road now allows commuters from Tema roundabout to Eastern Region to comfortably drive over the railway line at Afienya, regardless of the time a train may be passing.
TEMA-MPAKADAN RAILWAY PROJECT
President Akufo-Addo, prior to commissioning the road, inspected ongoing works at the Afienya railway station. After the commissioning, he also inspected works on the rail bridge over the Volta Lake, which is part of the entire 97.7kilometre railway project.
The project, which credit agreement was reached between the government Ghana and the Eximbank of India, was approved by a resolution in October 2016, by the 6th Parliament, with AFCONS Infrastructure Ltd., also of India, as the contractor for the project.
In his address at the commissioning, President Akufo-Addo noted that the 97.7 kilometres standard guage Tema-Mpakadan railway project was a brainchild of the first New Patriotic Party Government of 2001 – 2009.
He recalled the idea was conceived when Mr Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi was Minister for Harbours and Railways.
According to President Akufo-Addo, in June 2007, the then Ministry commissioned a feasibility study for a multi-modal transport link between Tema and Buipe, through the Volta Lake.
The study, he stated, was successfully completed in 2009, stressing the economic, financial and operational feasibility of the multi-modal freight corridor.
“I have been assured by the contractor that the few outstanding works remaining on the project will be completed and the project handed over to Government for operations within the first half of next year,” he added.
The project commenced in 2018 with funding of $447m, which consists of 38 bridges among others.
IMPORTANCE OF THE PROJECT
The President, neatly dressed in his sea blue African print shirt, over a pair of trousers to match, explained that the idea was conceived to create a multi-modal transportation network, involving road, rail and lake transportation, which will facilitate the haulage of cargo and the movement of people from the southern part of the country to the northern sector, through a mix of intermodal transport systems.
However, he opined that, the over-dependency Ghana’s road network, coupled with the lack of other transport alternatives, particularly between Accra and Kumasi, resulted in congestion, rapid deterioration of roads and increases in road accidents.
He argued that the project was important, given the current transportation of domestic freight and transit freight between Accra, Tema and Northern Ghana, and further to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, being essentially road-based via Kumasi, Tamale, Bolgatanga, Navrongo and Paga.
“In particular, existing port operations at the Tema Port will be improved, resulting in reduced vessel waiting time, container dwelling time, which will improve the competitiveness of the Port, as well as lead to reduction in freight transport costs, and enhance safety,” he added.
Transporting freight and transit cargo, via the Lake Transport System, President Akufo-Addo, reiterated will reduce cost of shipment and by extension, reduce the cost of doing business in Ghana.
LINKAGE
The Tema-Mpakadan-Buipe multi-modal transport project, when successfully completed and operationalised, will link the Tema Port to the lake transport network, especially the north-south movement over a distance of some four hundred kilometres.
It will also open up the lake to the transportation of not only fuel and cement, but also containerized cargo and agricultural produce from the northern enclave and Afram Plains to the Port of Tema and other destinations.
Other economic benefits of the project include reduction of pressure on the road network, including the Eastern Corridor Roads, which are under construction.
RECORD
“I want to put on record that, in the last five years of my administration, more construction activity in the railway sector has gone on than in any period since independence. We have laid a solid foundation, which will receive an even greater impetus by the end of my tenure in 2025. My commitment to the development of a new modern standard railway network is unwavering,” he said.
The Minister for Railways Development, John Peter Amewu said that the Tema-Mpakadan “railway project crossing the river Volta is one of its kind in West Africa.”
