President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo must commit resources and finances to the newly formed Ministry of Railway and Development lest its creation will be useless, Goodwill Ntamah, Secretary to the Railway Workers Union, has said.
According to him, although the creation of the ministry is timely and good for the sector and the country at large, the president would regret it if it is starved.
Mr Akufo-Addo announced the creation of the new ministry on Wednesday 11 January and revealed Joe Ghartey, Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan, as its Minister-designate.
Speaking on the new ministry in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom, on Accra100.5FM on Thursday January 12, Mr Ntamah said: “Let me first of all commend the president for the creation of the Ministry of Railway [Development]. If you look at the railway sector through the national lens, you will realise that it is important for us to be interested in the development of our railway.
“And, so, the president has done well with the creation of the railway ministry. The minister who has also been designated knows much about the sector, he knows the history and the challenges confronting the sector and the workers. We the railway workers know him very well and, so, I am happy that he is the one who has been designated to handle the sector. He alone cannot do the work; we as workers, as managers, as stakeholders, and everybody, should come on board and see the railway as a national asset and bring it back on track to create employment for Ghanaians.
“People have finished technical school but have no jobs. Assuming the rail sector were functioning effectively, they would get work to do, and so this new role is a huge task on the minister. But we will not leave it to him alone; we the workers will support him to succeed.
He added: “We will also appeal to the government to commit more resources and money to the ministry. That should be paramount to the government because if you create the ministry but fail to resource it in terms of cash, the idea for its creation won’t work and we will regret creating that ministry.”
