VLTC set for transformation to harness potentials
The Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) is set for a transformation that is aimed at harnessing the potentials of the Volta Lake and fulfilling the goals of setting up the company for the social and economic benefit of the nation.
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To this end, an Eastern Corridor Multi Modal Transport Project (ECMMTP) is envisaged for execution under which two container ports will be constructed at Akosombo in the south and Yapei or Buipe in the north.
It also entails the construction of 18 ferry landing sites along the lake and the acquisition of 10 ships under the project.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the acting Managing Director of the VLTC, Mr Martin Hiles, said $500 million had been earmarked for the project under the $3-billion Chinese loan to the government.
He said $300 million of the amount would be expended on the development of the port and the infrastructure needs of the lake, with $200 million to be spent on the construction of feeder roads to connect links of lakeshore communities.
Mr Hiles said the company had undergone a management turn-around for the better and had contributed to the first profit of over $1 million in a year and a turnover of about $5 million in the over 24 years of its operations.
He said for now, the VLTC was lifting 60,000 metric tonnes of petroleum products and 60,000 metric tonnes of cement from Akosombo to Buipe in the north every year, adding that the company had the capacity to perform three times the current output.
The company, he said, had increased trips from one to two in a week that involved the use of two push boats and five barges, in addition to the use of vessels that provided social services at Dambai, Yeji, Adawso, Ekye-Amanfrom and Kete-Krachi.
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According to him, the company had four active ferries, two vessels now sank under water and two awaiting refurbishment, disclosing that a German company had been paid to salvage the sunk ferries but, surprisingly, it had not shown up for the execution of the project for more than three years now.
Touching on the benefits of the proposed ECMMTP project, Mr Hiles said there could be an increase in trade and commercial activities between northern and southern Ghana to a tune of about one million metric tonnes annually, as well as provide northern Ghana access to the heart of the northern savannah and land-locked Sahel countries.
He also said an estimated 1,000 jobs would be created, in addition to the decongestion of the Tema Port, as well as provide rapid markets for produce from the north in the south.
He said the injection of capital into the operation of the VLTC would certainly end the present state of the company as a “wasted asset” of the nation.
Story by Tim Dzamboe