The Member of Parliament for Pru East, Dr. Kwabena Donkor has chided successive governments for neglecting water transport in the country.
He however singled out the Volta Lake Transport Company for failing in their duties as the only entity legally mandated to oversee commercial transportation on the Volta Lake.
[contextly_sidebar id=”hL6f8dyIR6UO976UOb0mMZexSmBX7wau”]According to him, very little has been done to enhance the transportation of people and goods over water bodies in the country especially the Volta Lake.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament in relation to the boat accident at Yeji that claimed the lives of 15 people last week, Dr. Donkor noted that the Volta Lake Transport company always stated the provisions of Volta River development act (1961) act 46 to insist they are legally authorized to traverse the Volta Lake.
Volta Lake Transport should be stripped of its exclusivity
But Dr. Donkor asserted that the transport company’s claim to exclusivity, “if legally right is an absurdity in the free enterprise environment of the 21st century.”
In this light, he called for the company to be stripped of its exclusivity and placed under the purview of the Ministry of Transport.
“The Volta Lake Transport company limited has abysmally failed to develop a modern business operation on the Volta Lake and should be stripped of any exclusivity if water transport infrastructure should be developed on the lake and its tributaries.”
“Additionally, the ownership of the company must be directly place with the ministry of transport rather than the VRA,” the Pru East legislator added.
Volta Lake Company has more to offer
But the Minister of Transport, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey defended the Volta Lake Company saying the company still has a lot to offer despite the challenges it has faced.
Also speaking on the floor of Parliament, he contended that the “Volta lake Transport Company, despite the challenges that the company faces is one company that clearly holds some very bright prospects so I do not believe that we need to change the company as it is. We believe that there are challenges that we can together help to resolve in order to allow the company to be able to work even much better than they are at the moment.”
He also revealed that Ghana Maritime Authority has committed to boosting their policing effort of the Volta River to ensure best practices on the river.
“I have spoken to the Ghana maritime authority and I was given an assurance that one of the few things that we have in place what we call marine patrol units that will operate almost like the way police patrols operate in our roads to ensure that proper discipline is kept.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana