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Mr John-Peter Amewu, Minister of Railway Development, has asked the staff of the Railway Ministry to work as a team towards building a modern rail network for the country.

The staff should also support the Government’s policies and programmes to bring Ghana’s rail transport back to active service.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Railway Development and copied to the Ghana News Agency said Mr Amewu made the remarks during his maiden meeting with Management and Staff of the Ministry in Accra.

The meeting allowed the Minister to formally interact with the staff and to discuss the future of the Ministry and the Railway Sector.

He said while politicians would always come and go with policy directions and guidelines, it was prudent for Management to ensure the staff developed love and strategies to implement the policies.
Mr Amewu commended the former Minister and the Deputies for laying a solid foundation for the Railway industry, saying that the sector had collapsed years ago due to poor maintenance culture.

He said much resources were invested in the construction of railway lines and gave a 100 per cent score for the progress of work, adding that what was left was the “motivating factor and funding.”
The Minister called for an all hands on deck approach to move the sector forward.

“I’m coming with good policies and must be backed by the implementation. It is important to carry everyone along, work together and put in innovation," he said.

He urged the Management and Staff to demonstrate the spirit of team work and dedication to their duties to enable the Ministry to succeed.

Touching on some pertinent issues affecting the Sector, the Management of the Ministry mentioned land acquisition and encroachment on railway lands, which had caused delays in the progress of some on-going railway projects.

Also, Human resource capacity constraints, including the limited number of engineers, which is affecting the Ministry and delaying supervision and monitoring of projects.

Mr Amewu gave the assurance that regular Management meetings would be held to address the concerns.

Mr Desmond Boateng, the Acting Chief Director at the Ministry, assured the Minister of the unflinching support of staff towards achieving set targets.