Railway corporation Unable To Cart Manganese ?

Ho (V/R), Sept. 3, The Ghana Railway Corporation (GRC) is unable to meet the request of the Ghana Manganese Corporation (GMC) to haul its increased ou tput of one million tonnes of manganese to the ports. This is because the GRC lacks the capacity to do so. This came to light in discussions on the railway corporation at the just-ended mid-year review conference of agencies under the Ministry of R oads and Transport during which Mr. Edward Salia, the sector minister, express ed concern at the lost opportunity and its effect on the operations of the manganese corporation. However, Mr. M.K. Arthur, Managing Director of the GRC, said the corporation is trying to improvise some bigger coaches to meet the request of the GMC in phases. He said the rail lines would have to undergo an overhaul to be able to carry the increased weight of the improvised coaches when loaded. Mr. Salia said the GRC requires the involvement of others in its ope rations on concessionary basis and called for an overhaul of the GRC. The conference was of the view that the GRC should concentrate on t he maximisation of its operations on the western line, instead of spreading its limited resources over a wider area. It was also found out that the railway corporation's responsibilitie s for haulage, provision and maintenance of rail lines and coaches as well as s afety was too much for a single organisation with limited resources. The conference, therefore, suggested that like road transport, responsibilities for providing and maintaining railway lines should be ta ken off the shoulders of GRC to ensure efficiency and the maximisation of its operations.