The founder and leader of Ghana Union Movement, Osofo Kyire Abosom says he suspects shoddy works, poor supervision and cover-up as the cause of the recent derailments on the Takoradi – Tarkwa rail line.
He, has therefore, called for the immediate arrest of all railway testing officers who supervised the revamping of the Takoradi-Tarkwa rail lines for investigations.
According to Kyire Abosom, who is also known as Mr Christian Kwabena Andrew, the derailment of two trains on the Takoradi-Tarkwa must not be seen as “business as usual”.
He made this known while reacting to recent developments in the rail sector where two trains have been involved in derailment on the Takoradi-Tarkwa rail lines.
He noted that if proper supervision, due diligence as well as all the necessary examinations were carried out by those in charge as required, the derailment could have been avoided.
“First of all, who gave the greenlight for the trains to start using the railway lines? What did they do before they gave the greenlight that within this short time we have to witness two derailments”? he asked.
“No serious country will allow this to happen without carrying out serious investigations to ascertain the cause and possible sanctions,” said Mr Andrew.
“But what do we see in this country? Authorities who are supposed to know better are all quiet. Is it because of what they might have gained from the revamping process or they just don’t care about the poor man,” he queried.
He stressed that Ghana could catchup with the rest of the world if people in authority are held accountable devoid of political correlations, affiliations and biasness.
“I want them to be properly investigated and the findings made known to the general public. If they are found culpable then the law must deal with them to serve as a deterrent,” he said.
He noted that the recent derailments have dampened the morale of would be passengers of rail transport while several others have also been traumatised.
He, therefore, charged the minister of Railways and the government to demonstrate strong commitment to ensuring the safety of passengers who desire to use the trains by carrying out investigations in to the recent derailments.
The management of the Ghana Railway Company recently informed the general public that it had completed the rehabilitation works on the Takoradi to Tarkwa railway.
A release signed by Dr Ing Michael Adjei Anyetei, deputy managing director of the company informed the public that the company had conducted several successful joint test runs with Ghana Railway Development Authority, the regulator.
According to the release, the test runs were “to ensure the lines suitability for passenger service”
In the light of this, GRCL decided to provide free passenger service from Takoradi to Tarkwa on Tuesday 28th Thursday 30thand Friday 31 2020.
Commercial passenger service was expected to commence on the 5th of February. However, the free passenger service could not last the period stipulated by the GRCL.
In the process of providing free passenger service as precursor to the commencement of the official commercial service, two trains have derailed creating panic among the general public.
The derailments have alarmed many passengers who now asking questions about the level of due diligence conducted before the trains begun operating on the railway lines.
