Ghana-Togo railway length misconstrued .............................................................. Barely 24 hours after Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama and his counterpart, Faure Gnassingbé of Togo jointly commissioned the Ghana-Togo railway, the length of the railway is causing confusion among residents in the Volta Region. The confusion is stemming from the actual length of the railway which was constructed at the cost of $8million through the collaboration between Diamond Cement, Ghana and West Africa Cement (WACEM), Togo. Many radio stations which conducted newspaper reviews were mentioning various lengths for the project as they reviewed the article published by Daily Graphic last Thursday, November 26 which put the length at 3km instead of 23 km. The Graphic report was positioned at the back page with the caption, “Mahama, Gnassingbé inaugurate Ghana-Togo railway” However, a replay of the speeches of President Mahama and the Chairman of the Togo Rail Company, Mr. Prasad Motaparti by the radio stations revealed that the length of the railway is actually 23 and not three as reported by the state owned newspaper. The joint commissioning of the project climaxed activities of the Togolese leaders three-day state visit to Ghana. Details of the Project 23km rail line which was constructed by Togo Rail Company with technical support from the Ghana Railway Development Authority connects the Diamond Cement Factory at Aflao in Ghana to the Lome Port in Togo. The rail line is to ease the transportation of clinker and other raw materials for cement production from the Lome Port to the cement factory at Aflao and also facilitate the transportation of cement products to the Lome Port for export as well as into the country for distribution to other areas. The railway is also expected to reduce the pressure on the main road linking Lome and Aflao. Diamond Cement, which started production in 2002, is one of the leading cement companies in Ghana. The two Presidents in their speeches commended the unique collaboration and cordial relationship among the two countries and assured that it will continue to transform the two countries and others in the West African Sub-region. The Paramount Chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, Togbui Adzonugaga Amenya Fiti V commended the key players for making the project a reality and hoped that the project would further open up the area for development. Source: Volta Onlinegh
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 18:36:48 +0000