Ten people have been arrested by Police in the Ashanti Region in connection with the stealing of railway track lines along the Konongo, Juaso, Kumasi, Ejusu and Nkwakwaw route.
Four of the suspects have been jailed.
The arrest was made after the Railway Ministry and law enforcement authorities realized that about 50 kilometres of railway tracks in the Ashanti and Eastern regions estimated to cost Two Hundred and Fifty million dollars ($250 million) had been stolen.
The Police immediately took up the matter and after making progress with the investigations, apprehended the perpetrators.
Disclosing the latest on the railway theft matter to the press, Deputy Minister for Railway Development, Kwaku Asante-Boateng, said Ghanaians should help government to bring the railway sector back to life.
Revealing that it costs the government a sum of $5 million to just construct one kilometre of railway line, the Minister implored the citizenry to protect the lines from thieves.
“It’s costing this nation an amount of five million dollars to construct just one kilometre. We know for sure that for the past twenty years we haven’t seen any train running on our rails. If the industry is gone down and we’re trying to revamp it, but this is not to say that the old tracks are not good,” Kwaku Asante-Boateng said.
Since 2017, the government through the Ministry for Railway Development has been working to revive the railway industry.
Although much has not been achieved, the progress made gives the indication that very soon, the railway lines will be operational to connect major cities.