Minister for Railways Development and Member of Parliament for Hohoe Constituency, Hon. Peter Amewu, has revealed that the cost of repair of the train which was involved in an accident recently will be borne by the manufacturer.
According to the minister, Ghanaian taxpayers will not bear the cost because of the fact that the government hasn’t officially taken delivery of the train. He indicated that until full payment is made, the train manufacturer would not hand over the train.
“As at the time of the incident, we have not taken ownership of the train. There was no transfer of ownership, which means the supplier was still responsible for the train. We’ll get ownership [of the train] when government make full payment….,” Hon. Amewu revealed on JoyNews’ PM Express program on Monday, April 22, monitored by Awakenewsroom.
He continued, “the contract agreement specifications …. leading to the transfer of ownership states specifically that until full payment is made, and until the test run has been conducted and certified by a third party,” government will not take ownership.
Speaking on the extent of damage suffered by the train, the minister said the train’s electronics and mechanical compositions have not been damaged. He noted that only a few parts are needed to restore the damaged train to its normal self.
On Thursday, April 18, the Ministry of Railways Development explained in a press statement that the new Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) train approached a curve at Km76+100 when it encountered a stationary vehicle parked across the rail track, resulting in the accident.
The statement said despite the immediate application of the emergency braking system, the train was unable to come to a complete stop before crashing into the truck.
The Ghana Police Service later announced the arrest of the driver of the Hyundai truck with registration number GS 9018 – 20.
Preliminary investigations established that Abel Dzidotor left the truck unattended on the railway line, leading to the collision with the new DMU train. He was arraigned before court and handed a six-month jail term a day after the incident.
