Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Minister for Planning has entreated stakeholders in the transport sector to explore workable but sustainable approaches to plan, finance and maintain the transport infrastructure whilst balancing issues of affordability to the citizens.

He pointed out that the traditional cycle of borrowing for major investment projects such as roads and raising funds from traditional sources for maintenance and operation would not enable Ghana to reach Ghana beyond aid dream envisaged by the President.

Prof Gyan-Baffour said this during the 3rd Transport Sector Review Conference in Takoradi, on the theme “Sustainability of Ghana’s Transport Sector –Exploring Innovative Solutions”.

The three-day conference jointly organised by the Ministries of Transport, Aviation, Railways Development and Roads and Highways, gathered experts, practitioners and development partners to review the performance of the Transport sector in the past years, discuss future plans, identify challenges and chart the way forward.

Prof. Gyan-Baffour described the theme of the conference as apt as it brought their attention to the need for thinking outside the box in the planning and operationalisation of the nation’s transport systems.

He noted that transportation sustainability was measured by effectiveness of transport systems and efficiency as well as the environmental climate impact system.

The Planning Minister in this regard stressed the need to explore more innovative ways of addressing the challenges in the transport systems, which had become critical in light of Ghana beyond aid agenda.

“There is the need for all stakeholders, the government, development partners, technocrats , the academia, civil society, transport operators and users as well as researchers to begin a thorough evaluation of the existing transport system policies for the alignment with concepts of financial, social and environmental sustainability to unearth a new paradigm for the future of our transport system”.

He said the safety and security of the transport system needed a complete overhaul to bring it to the state that foster confidence in investors, operators and users of the various transport modes.

Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, Minister for Transport said the conference was critical for them as transport practitioners and stakeholders not only to ensure the achievement of their objectives but also as a means to critically assess and address the challenges confronted them as a sector.

According to him, there was the need for adequate institutional and regulatory framework as well as innovative measures to underpin the necessary development.

He said one key challenge facing the transport sector was traffic congestion in the cities, noting that the provisions of urban transport infrastructure and service had over the years been a major challenge.

He announced that an urban transport forum with support from the sustainable African Transport Policy Programme would soon be held in Ghana to explore ideas and solutions for dealing with the current transport challenges.

Mr Asiamah said the Ministry had completed all its projects under the transport sector project within the time frame of the project and added that the Ministry was ready to start the implementation of the transport sector improvement project that was awaiting Parliamentary approval of the credit facility.

He stated that the Eastern corridor Multimodal transport, with emphasis on the development of the Volta Lake transport system as well as the rail component of the multimodal project, had taken off in earnest.

For her Part, the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah described the transport industry as broad and complex, yet a vibrant one which called for collaboration among the various model sectors, ministries, departments and agencies.

She said the Aviation sector had made progress to promote the sector through the modernisation of airport infrastructure, establishing institutional and policy frameworks to enhance safety and security of air services, adding that currently, 37 International airlines were operating in the country with new entrants coming on board soon.

Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta Minister of Roads and Highways stressed the need for the stakeholder in the road sector to be innovative to develop an integrated and robust transport system which could stand the test of time.

He also stressed the need for them to consider the uncertainties and the issues of the avoidable challenges of climate change, which was truly important in ensuring sustainability.

The Minister of Railways Development, Mr Joe Ghartey pointed out that the only way to solve the numerous challenges confronting the transport sector was to resource the rail sector to make it more vibrant and efficient.

He noted that the expansion of the country’s ports and road network would be meaningless if the rail sector was ignored, stressing that the country made a big mistake in the past to have abandoned the rail sector which he described as a tool for economic development.