The government has unveiled plans to introduce a coastal and inland marine transport system as part of a broader effort to address the growing congestion on Ghana’s roads.
This initiative comes in response to increasing concerns over the high levels of traffic, especially during rush hours, which leave many commuters spending long hours traveling to and from their destinations.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, the Minister for Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, acknowledged the current strain on the transport system, describing road congestion as one of the sector’s major challenges.
The Minister explained its outfit is exploring alternative modes of transportation to complement the existing road infrastructure, particularly leveraging the country’s access to natural water bodies.
He further revealed that feasibility studies are currently underway, with the intention of partnering with the private sector to deploy watercraft on the seas and lakes to facilitate this new transport option.
“The congestion on our road is a very much headache for me. When you are within the rush hours, and you see a lot of people trying to get to their offices and spending a lot of time on the road is very headache. As a government, we are looking at how to decongest our roads and by so doing, we have to look at different modes of transports that will complement the additional roads that we are all using.”
“We are blessed with the Ocean and our thinking is that we are looking at creating the coastal transport system or the marine inland water system, that will also take off the transport volume or passenger volume on our roads to the oceans and the lakes and sometimes to the rivers to be able to pave alternative mode of transport. There’s a feasibility studies that is ongoing and we are looking to get it finalised and we’ll be able to get a partnership with the private sector to put some craft on our sea or on our lakes to create the means for transport for us.”
The coastal and inland water transport initiative is expected to provide a sustainable and efficient travel alternative, particularly for communities along the coast and near major water bodies.
Source: Ghana/StarrFM103.5FM/Hamdiya Mohammed
