In line with his “Buy Ghana First” commitment to boost local production, Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has revealed plans to use locally-produced materials for his mega railway development plan.
During his tour of the Ashanti Region, Dr. Bawumia highlighted his administration’s intention to prioritize railway development alongside road construction, with a special focus on major railway lines such as Accra to Kumasi through to Paga, and Kumasi to Takoradi.
Stressing his commitment to this vision, Dr. Bawumia emphasized his goal to source materials for railway development within Ghana to create more jobs.
“I don’t want us to import the materials for the rails, the concrete slabs, and others,” Dr. Bawumia said in Agona, during his engagement with stakeholders of the Afigya Sekyere East Constituency.
“I have discussed with UMaT (University of Mines and Technology) that they should come up with a way to produce the materials we need for constructing the railways here in Ghana,” he added.
Dr. Bawumia expressed surprise that even concrete slabs for rail construction are imported, insisting that this should not be the case.
“We need to produce them here. It surprises me that even concrete slabs for rail development are imported from China. How?” he questioned.
“We have so many resources in Ghana, but we have not fully tapped into them to develop our country.”
“We won’t import again. We have the technology and the capacity. Building the railway lines will create lots of jobs, but we need to develop the materials here and use our people. We have the capacity.”
Dr. Bawumia reiterated his commitment to developing the railway sector, alongside continuing the massive road expansion initiated by the Akufo-Addo government.
“Our government has focused on roads, and it is important for me to continue what the Akufo-Addo government has done. But when I come, I want to give special focus to railways. Accra to Kumasi all the way to Paga is a strategic line. Also from Kumasi to Takoradi and Ejisu to Eduarde. They will all help us.”
