Government has begun the construction of a harbour at Mpakadan in the Asuogyaman Constituency of the Eastern Region, a former top official of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has disclosed.
The move is to create employment for the people in the Constituency and the Region, especially, the youth.
Paul Asare Ansah, who claimed the project was his brainchild, made this known in an interview on Onua FM’s Ghana Dadwene hosted by Nana Yaw Opare on Monday.
He explained that the harbour was the reason why the government is also constructing the Tema to Mpakadan Railway line, which is expected to be completed in this month.
The construction of the railway track was conceived as a “port-to-port Project” in 2007, under the Kufour era.
As a result, in 2007, a contract was signed for a feasibility study to be conducted for a Tema-to-Buipe multimodal transport system via Akosombo. In furtherance of this, in November 2016, an agreement was approved by Parliament for a Tema-to-Akosombo railway line.
Upon assumption of office by the Akufo-Addo government in January 2017, the agreement approved by Parliament was reviewed for a number of reasons.
The reasons included a possible effect on the Akosombo Dam, since the project involved drilling a tunnel through rock to the Akosombo Port.
The tunnel, the Minister of Railways Development had said, was only going to be 60 meters away from the Akosombo Dam at one point.
Speaking on the political talk show, Mr. Asare Ansah, who is also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for Asuogyaman Constituency, said in Twi that “harbour is being built in Asuogyaman at Mpakadan to boost employment and that was my aim so that the youth will be employed”.
He added: “I will fight poverty in the constituency and the region and the harbour is one of things to ensure that and that is why the railway line is being constructed from Tema to the place.”
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|3news.com|Ghana