I know it's been a while. Finding the time has been a challenge but I promised 3 letters, so 3 letters it is; here is my last letter to you. Sir, this letter will concentrate on infrastructure, specifically on transport infrastructure.
In 2007, an agreement was signed with Kampac to develop parts of the existing system and to lay down some new tracks as well. I'm unqualified to comment on the technical aspects of the agreement, and I've not taken much interest in that. What bothers me is that we do not seem to have an integrated transport strategy which this railway project would dovetail into.
I urge you to:
- Read the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II paper if you've not read it, and I mean read the document yourself. There are some good things in there. In truth, it is an overgrown version of the business plans that our entrepreneurs (I prefer this word to the usual "businessman") prepare just to acquire bank loans. I doubt we ever intended to implement most of it. I may be wrong but I doubt that you will find sector-specific implementation documents that would make real the intentions recorded in the GPRS, including that on transport infrastructure (page 143).
- Review the specific objectives of our transport strategy, if we have one. Presumably, how the transport sector facilitates economic activity and the nation's territorial integrity will be in there somewhere;
- How those objectives will be achieved especially the principal implementors (identity, capabilities and structure), timelines, routes and ease of transition from one transport mode to another (hubs?).
- Give some thought to financing of capital and recurrent expenditures.
I digress a bit at this point. I believe the planning for the Inland Ports initiative (Boankra) started when you were Vice President. Since then, we've built a shiny, modernist administrative office at Boankra. That part of the land where we were supposed to build the port facilities remain verdant, the envy of native herds of goats. As I understand it, this facility was supposed to serve importers and exporters in the Kumasi and beyond, so that they would not have to come to Tema and Takoradi to transact business. Customs would transport the goods to and from Boankra and hence offer a convenient service to traders in Kumasi and beyond. We know that since the Ivorian civil war, we have captured a significant portion of the import trade for Mali and Burkina Faso.
What if we really developed our rail system from T'di and Tema, through Boankra to Hamile on the Burkina border (as 'intended' by Kampac) to facilitate this inland port system and keep the trucks off our roads? You could throw in 2 more ports at Tamale and Hamile. I suspect Ghana would secure a lot more of the landlocked West African trade if Malian and Burkina truckers didn't have to drive the entire length of Ghana, less accidents and longer-lasting roads.
If we are really ambitious, we could let that Western line go up through Sunyani and Techiman, through Bamboi up to Wa and Tumu. We would then complement this with an eastern corridor from Tema to Akosombo, by river to Kete Krachi and again by rail to Yendi, Tamale and Bolgatanga. You could build some redundancy into the system by linking the two corridors at Tamale and Bamboi and then again at Bolga and Tumu. The southern system already has some linkages. Regarding the river transport, if my understanding is correct, the major obstacle is submerged trees. Instead of having commercial considerations as the overriding purpose of the harvesting of these trees, can we also clear 2 corridors, one northbound and the other southbound? We could build mini harbours en route.
We could derive revenue from passenger traffic and freight. Task your economists to estimate the multiplier effect as transportation eases and the likely effect on economic activity. This almost door-to-door delivery/pick-up of imports/exports by Customs should be great for trade. Then there is internal trade! We could open the rail network to entities willing to run railcars of their own for passenger or freight, and pay rent for the access.
These are suggestions only, they require study but I'm confident that there is some merit in these suggestions.
2 suggestions regarding roads:
- The most important highway in Ghana, the Accra - Kumasi road is a disgrace! Let's get a dual carriage highway, 4 or 6 lanes in either direction. Segregate the inner 2 or 3 lanes in either direction as Express lanes, with concrete walls sufficiently high to discourage climbing. It may have 3 mid-journey exits only - Apedwa, Nkawkaw and Konongo. Ban trucks from the express lanes. Any allowed vehicle would have to pay GHC20.00 minimum and maintain speed between 100kmph and 150kmph. Trucks and others who prefer may use the outer lanes, pay much less in tolls and stop where ever they please (except on the road).
- We must eliminate concrete islands in the middle of dual carriage avenues (in town) and redesign intersections for more intelligent traffic management. The number of lanes dedicated to opposite directions must not necessarily be symmetrical every hour of the day, or? On a 6-lane dual carriageway, 4 lanes could be dedicated to heavy traffic at rush hour in the morning in the required direction and 2 lanes for light traffic. This would then be reversed in the evening. Imagine Independence Avenue with only double solid white lines down the middle. In the mornings, when the heavy traffic is towards Liberation Circle, we could use plastic cones to co-opt one lane on the Tetteh Quashie-bound side for the heavy traffic. In the evening rush hour, vice versa. So the direction of traffic on 2 inner lanes would be determined by the need for additonal capacity in either direction.
President Mills, your presidency is not a destination, it is an avenue to performance. Godspeed to you.
Your ex-student,
Yaw
