The Ghana Railway Authority on Monday said it would demolish structures along the railway lines and would not be deterred by protest from traders along the routes.
The board of the Authority said in as much the demolition would affect the livelihood of some traders it had no other choice than to do so to pave the way for the construction of the new rail line and rehabilitation of the old.
Mrs. Victoria Addy, Member of the Council of State and also a member of the GRA Board, who disclosed this when members of the Board paid a courtesy call on the Ga Traditional Council (GTC), said no compensation would be paid to affected persons.
She explained that structures within 100 metres would have to be demolished to avoid any disasters due to the speed of the modern trains to be imported.
“We will sack them all and there would be no compensation,” she said, and asked the Ga Chiefs to give them their blessing because the land taken over by squatters was given to government for development and not for illegal occupation.
Under the project, which includes rehabilitation of the old railway lines and construction of new ones from Accra to Tema and Accra to Nsawam, modern train stations are to be build at 990 million dollars. Another line would be built from Nsawam through Ejisu in the Ashanti Region to Paga with branch routes to Tamale and Yendi at 6.050 billion dollars.
Board chairman, Mr. Dan Markin, said value assessment would be done to know the actual cost of the project which was being untaken by CMEC and CMC Contractors from China adding that it would be 100 percent funded by the Chinese government.
“We are bent on developing a railway that would make the country a better place, ease traffic congestion and help reduce the carnage on our roads. We will therefore not allow squatters to take over the land for development because the country deserves better,” he said.
“We have therefore come to seek your blessings as custodians of the land for a project that would also create employment for the citizenry and also thank you for the support you have given us to go ahead and develop the capital,” he added, and announced that James Town had been included in the plan.
The Mayor of Accra, Mr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, who led the delegation, said the call was necessitated by the support and encouragement from the GTC to the AMA to go ahead and develop the city into a Millennium one when the GTC paid a call on the AMA recently.
He touched on some initiatives undertaken by the AMA in its quest to make Accra one of the finest cities in Africa and mentioned the abolition of the school shift system, the sanitation programmes, construction of roads and the inauguration of the Bus Rapid Transport as some of the initiatives.
He expressed appreciation to chiefs for the weight thrown behind the assembly and the GRA to develop the city and the country as a whole.
Nii Odaifio Welenntsie, Nungua Mantse, commended the Mayor for taking the bull by the horns to develop Accra to meet the Millennium City criteria and said people would always resist change but they should not be deterred by what people said or did.
He urged them to make sure that the country was given good value for money and not forget to give the Ga state what was due it.
King Tackie Tawiah III said he was delighted at the possibility of an efficient rail transport and recalled it usefulness in his youthful days.
“The job would not be easy because we have allowed things to decay for a very long time giving people the upper hand to acquire land through fictitious means. These illegalities must stop,” he said, and added “we must aspire to govern by order”.
The Ga Mantse said whoever gave the squatter those lands had done a great disservice to them and that the Mayor and the GRA were now giving a new meaning to development.
Nii Kojo Ababio V, James Town Mantse, said the GTC was in total support of the AMA’s intended removal of squatters along the railway lines because the Ga Chiefs had not given out those lands for sale to individuals but for development of the city.
He said the project should not be a nine-day wonder because he had once cut the sod for the project which did not materialise and wished them well in the quest to develop the capital.