16 Engines for Volta Lake ferries left to rot

Source: myjoyonline.com
The Transport Ministry is facing a potential case of causing financial loss to the state following allegations 16 engines imported for vessels at the Volta Lake have been left to rot....

The engines bought in 2011 under the World Bank project were to be fixed into the ferries to transport travellers and goods from Accra to the Volta Region and vice-versa.

Almost three years after the engines were bought, Joy News can confirm they have been caged and are gathering dust at the premises of the Volta Lake. Volta Region correspondent Hubert Yevu Agbi reported that the engines were kept in a rusty container.

He said a little peep through the locked container shows that the engines are in poor condition.

According to him, the failure to make optimum use of the engines has dealt a heavy blow to the ferry transport as many passengers now prefer canoe transport to ferries and pontoon.

Former Managing Director of the Volta Lake Company Martin Hykes told Joy News' Beatrice Adu two out of four ferries have been parked because the engines are old and dilapidated.

According to him, the engines bought were not compatible to those that had been destroyed.

He dismissed allegations the engines were bought under his watch, claiming at the time he was appointed the engines had be bought already.

He said under his stewardship he started negotiations with the consultants to have funds made available to modify the ferries to make good use of the engines but the funds never came.

He was however emphatic that the poor state of the ferries has dealt a heavy blow to pontoon transport.

The "ferries are unreliable and slow" he stated.

Attempts to get a response from the Transport ministry failed.