Kwasi Amoako-Attah, Roads and Highways Minister, has indicated government’s readiness to revamp ferry services at the Ada marine yard, to provide better services to patrons and residents.
The yard, located in the Ada East District of the Greater Accra Region, was established in the 1970s to provide ferry services to communities downstream of the Akuse dam and inhabitants in the Lower Volta Basin, however, it has witnessed drastic decline in its services in the last couple of years.
Fleet of ferries which provided services to many in these communities have reduced drastically, with currently, only one ferry providing service, while the whole facility is in a sorry state.
Briefing the media after touring the facility on Monday, Kwasi Amoako-Attah expressed disappointment at the level of deterioration of the facility.
“This yard has been operated for so many years, over 30-35 years. It used to have a fleet of 20 ferries, but today, we have only one and I’m not impressed at all about the level of the facility,” he bemoaned.
He said, as part of its social responsibility of providing services, government had a duty to offer service to the people at the other side of the water, assuring that it would do all it took to revamp the operations of the Yard to serve the people better.
The tour was to enable the Minister to obtain first-hand information on the condition of the facility in order to better advise the government on measures to take to revamp operations.
The Minister was accompanied by Madam Mavis Nkansah Boadu, a Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Abass Awolu, Chief Director of the Ministry, and Mr Christian Nti, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Highways Authority.
Others are Mr James Amoo-Gottfried, Director, Planning and Development, Department of Urban Roads, Mr Roosevelt Out, Director, Department of Feeder Roads, and other officials.
Mr Amoako-Atta said the Ministry, in the coming days, would put together a document and present it to cabinet for consideration.
He called on private individuals and corporate organisations to partner government to put the yard in a better condition.
“We were going to do whatever is necessary and whatever it takes to revamp this place. Either to do it alone all by ourselves or partner any private person who has the capacity to support the government in a public-private partnership arrangement.
“But definitely, we must bring this place to life by whatever means, because of the social responsibility that government must provide service to people at the other side of the water. We are going to do exactly that,” the Minister assured.
Mr Amoako-Attah directed the GHA, managers of the yard, as well as management of the Ada Marine Unit, to demolish all properties which had sprung up on lands belonging to the Unit, and secure it for future redevelopment.
Mr Isaac Kwasi Sackey, Project Manager, Ada Marine Unit, said the hike in fuel prices, coupled with low fares charged by the Unit, was affecting operations of the ferry.
He, therefore, appealed to the Minister to, as a matter of urgency, release funds to the unit, to enable it to sustain operations of the remaining ferry.
