The Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) has dismissed claims that it has overstepped its mandate in operating passenger rail services in Takoradi.
The response follows a protest by workers of the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL), who accused the GRDA of sidelining staff by selecting only 40 GRCL workers to operate the Takoradi rail service.
Reacting to the concerns in an interview with the media, the Chief Executive Officer of the GRDA, Dr. Frederick Appoh defended the decision, explaining that the selected workers were chosen based on operational requirements needed to ensure efficient service delivery.
“It was a ministerial directive to take up to 40 workers from the GRCL to run the shuttle. In any case, the shuttle has been packed there for two and half years. We went there to repair the train and there is no GRDA staff there running the train so I don’t understand why they are making such allegations,” he said.
Dr. Appoh, further explained that the Ghana Railway Development Authority is currently undertaking a revenue run on the Tema-Mpakadan rail line to help government generate revenue toward servicing the over 400 million dollar loan secured for the project.
He also noted that GRDA has settled eight months of salary arrears owed to workers of the Ghana Railway Company Limited GRCL.
Takoradi: Railway workers protest GRDA’s shuttle service operations
