Ghana Manganese Company gives Ghana railways $10m to repair rail lines

The Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL) has secured $10 million from the Ghana Manganese Company Limited (GMCL) for rehabilitation works on a portion of the Western railway lines.

The project, which is expected to be completed in March next year, will focus on railway lines from Kojokrom to Tarkwa through Nsuta sections of the 330 km Western railway lines.

As part of the rehabilitation, all the wooden sleepers on the railway line will be replaced with steel sleepers to make it more suitable for the transportation of goods.

 At a press briefing in Accra Wednesday, the Minister of Railway Development, Mr Joe Ghartey, said a committee to supervise the work had been put together and tasked to complete the project on time.

When completed, he said, the project would help improve the operational performance of GRCL and also facilitate the haulage of manganese.

Presently, the deplorable nature of the Kojokrom to Tarkwa through Nsuta sections of the Western railway line is making it extremely difficult for GMCL to operate efficiently.

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According to Mr Ghartey, the production capacity of the company had been heavily affected because it was unable to transport all of its products on the railway lines. 

He explained that the agreement between GRCL and GMCL was a prepaid system.

“It is not a loan but a form of advance given to the GRCL to enable them to execute work on the portion of the railway line. It is expected that within three and half years, the amount would have been paid back,” he added.

Manganese company

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GMCL, Mr Oleg Sheyko, said the company had been operating in the country for a long time and was determined to continue with its operations in Ghana.

He said the destruction of a section of the Western railway line was slowing down the operations of the company, adding that: “Our production capacity has reduced drastically.”

“We now encounter major challenges in the transportation of our manganese. We cannot go by road too because it’s expensive and not good for the roads as well,” Mr Sheyko said.