Transport Sector Dev't Confab ends

Page 34 April 25/2008

Story & Picture: Charles Benoni Okine

The draft National Transport Policy is clear evidence of the government’s resolve to harmonise the activities of the transport sector to enable it to play its role as a growth facilitator to the other sectors of the economy, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, has said.
He was responding to concerns raised by the country’s development partners on the need for the government to harmonise the activities of the transport sector, which is now under three different ministries.
The Finance Minister was speaking at the closing of a two-day Transport Sector development partners conference held in Accra on Wednesday on the theme, “The transport sector, a catalyst for growth and development”.
The four major modes of transportation are now under three ministries, namely, the Ministry of Transportation, which takes charge of the road sector; the Ministry of Harbours and Railways and the Ministry of Aviation.
Mr Baah-Wiredu admitted that the way forward for the government now “is to develop medium to long-term strategies that aim at bringing all the different modes of transportation together in order to keep our towns and cities moving”.
“The best strategy to select will be the one that will give us overall value for money, with the quality and safety requirements we desire,” he added.
The Minister of Transportation, Dr Richard Anane, who delivered the closing address, said the experiences shared during the conference would guide the preparation towards the implementation of the next Transport Sector Development Programme (TSDP).
Dr Anane noted the dwindling support for the rail sector and called for serious consideration and support for rail infrastructure.
“The current state of the rail lines cannot support the haulage of bulk commodities, especially manganese and bauxite. The effect is that mining companies are resorting to the transportation of their products by road and, therefore, they are damaging the roads that have been constructed with government and donor partner support,” he added.
The Transportation Minister also raised the issue of lack of funds from the development partners to the aviation sector and reiterated his call for support for the sector to enable it to play its role.
Dr Anane used the occasion to assure the country’s development partners that the transport sector would be examined in an integrated manner to ensure value for money and the advantages of synergies.
The Resident Representative of the Ghana Country Office of the African Development Bank, Mr Alieu Jeng, said the TSDP highlighted the importance of transport infrastructure for the economic development of Ghana, adding, “We the development partners in the sector will continue to support meeting the funding requirements.”
He noted, however, that in order to ensure the successful implementation of the TSDP, the government would need to act fast in some critical areas such as institutional reforms.
“We have no doubt that necessary actions will be taken by the government to implement transport sector reforms that will contribute to sustaining strong economic growth and reducing poverty; This will support the objective of transforming Ghana into a middle-income country by 2015,” he added.