Accra, April 24, GNA - Bauxite is locked up at Awaso because of the deplorable state of the Western Railway line, Mr. Prince Ankrah, General Secretary of the Ghana Mines Workers' Union told the GNA in an interview.

He said because of the poor nature of the railway lines and poor road network, bauxite could not be hauled to the ports for export. Mr Ankrah said the union would like to appeal to the government to pursue privatization of the Western Railway line to prevent the closure of Alcan Riotinto, the company that manages the mine on behalf of Ghana Bauxite Company.

He said if the privatization did not take place it would not only plunge the company into financial crisis but could lead to a redundancy exercise to make worse the unemployment situation facing the country. 24 April 09