News:
July 2, 2021
The Minister for Railways Development, John Peter Amewu, on Thursday, appeared before Parliament and told Members that government has not sold any railway land within the Abuja/CMB market enclave to any private developer or corporate body.
Those lands, he noted, still remain the properties of the Ghana Railway Company Limited but have only been leased to ten entities namely; Ghana Cocoa Board, National Investment Bank, Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Wood Merchant and Trading Company, and Pioneer Merchant.
The rest are Original Embossment, J. a. Lord Care Enterprise, First Eye Limited, Geofort Enterprise and Conna Bless Enterprise.
He said one of the main challenges affecting the development of the railway sector is encroachment on railway lands.
This, he noted, is partly attributed to the neglect of the railway sector for a very long time which has made people to believe that the railway operations were never going to be revived.
“This was aided by the weak administrative and institutional oversight responsibilities. All these contributed to create a fertile ground for wanton encroachment on railway lands across the country. Private individuals and corporate entities have encroached on lands within and outside the right-of-way and thus making government’s commitment to revamp the sector difficult and costly”, he noted.
Mr. Amewu made these remarks when answering to a question posed by the NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Klottey Korle, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings.
The NDC lawmaker had asked the Railways Development Minister the status of the land in and around the Abuja/CMB Market and whether any portion of the said land has been sold and if so, to whom, having regards to the developments in the area.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com