As part of ghovernment’s commitment to revamp the railway sector, the Ministry of Railway Development is seeking to acquire land to enable it develop new railway infrastructure and expand existing ones.

To achieve this, the Ministry, through its Consultant, is working closely with the Lands Commission to facilitate the acquisition of the needed land.

In this regard, a workshop was held on Wednesday in Kumasi. The workshop brought together staff from the Land Valuation Division of the Lands Commission from all sixteen regions of the country.

Mr Benjamin Arthur, Director, Land Valuation Division and Ag. Deputy Executive Secretary (Operations), who opened the workshop, challenged staff of the Lands Commission to work hard in order to meet the expected timelines of government.

He noted that “Railway development is of prime importance to the President and once we have been called to play a role in its development, we must deliver without fail”.

Dr Asenso-Gyambibi, a Consultant on the project, in a presentation, indicated that plans are far advanced to acquire land for the Ghana – Burkina Faso Railway Line.

Similar acquisitions would also take place for the development of the Central Spine which starts from Kumasi to Tamale through Sunyani and Techiman as well as the Trans ECOWAS Line (Elubo to Aflao).

Furthermore, by virtue of changes in design from narrow gauge to standard gauge, additional land is required for the existing line (Eastern Line, Western Line and Central Line) where government had already acquired the right-of-way in the past.

As part of the workshop, there was a practical demonstration of the use of modern surveying tools such as hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS), which should enable the team from Lands Commission to undertake their task with greater efficiency and ease.

A number of the over 100 participants who were engaged after the event expressed satisfaction about the knowledge and insight received and pledged their support to ensure speedy acquisition of land for railway expansion.