John Peter Amewu, the minister of railways development has said those found culpable of stealing metals on the Tema-Mpakadan railway will be prosecuted.
At least 300 passengers were left stranded on Wednesday (1 June) at the Kojokrom train station in the Western Region following the suspension of services as a result of cable theft on the coach.
Speaking to journalists after inspecting work on the Tema-Mpakadan railway project, Amewu said the theft is not as widespread in the Western Region.
“Some men have attempted to remove some of the bolts around the Tema harbour, you know and as our culture I don’t think it is fair, because the government is spending millions of dollars to construct these railway lines and it is for the benefit of all citizens of this country,” he said.
“This is the first time ever, in the history of this country, we have seen so much investment in the railway sector, and if people cannot take the project and accept it as their own property and therefore go behind and start pilfering, I don’t think it is going to help us as a country,” Amewu said.
“So, this is just an appeal to all Ghanaians, but the law will catch up with any citizen that makes an attempt, we realised some of the bolts and nuts had already been removed, this cannot be acceptable at all, let us be our own keepers and protectors of property that belongs to government,” Amewu added.
He appealed to the people in and around the railway lines to protect the lines.
“This is not as widespread as in the Western lines, 250 bolts and nuts have been removed.
“We have done a lot of stakeholder engagement, this is a new line, unfortunately they were not caught. So, let’s all be keepers of government property,” he said.
Meanwhile, the contractors working on the 100km Tema-Mpakadan rail project have given assurance that work will be completed in December this year.
Fred Dzakpata
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