Railway Authority Disclaims Striking Staff

The Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) has distanced itself from the group of individuals claiming to be workers who hit the streets to demand unpaid salaries.

The group have laid down their tools, claiming they haven’t been paid their salaries for the past seven months.

However, a statement by the Acting CEO of the Authority, Dr Frederick Appoh, said the ongoing action by the group is “entirely unrelated” to the GRDA.

According to him, the staff of the Authority are fully operational and have not initiated or endorsed any form of public demonstration on any issue.

He clarified that the strike action is being undertaken by staff of the Ghana Railways Company Limited (GRCL).

“The GRDA and the GRCL are separate entities with distinct legal mandates. The GRDA was established under the Railways Act, 2008 (Act 779) to own, develop, maintain and regulate railway infrastructure in Ghana… We reiterate that there is no disruption to our work, and our operations remain unaffected by any industrial action by the GRCL.”

“Since the coming into force of Act 779, the GRCL, a state-owned limited liability company, has focused mainly on operating railway services, including passenger and freight transport,” he explained.

According to him, the Authority is focused on final preparations for the operationalisation of the newly constructed 97-kilometre Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line, supported by two new trains government has procured.

It, therefore, encouraged the public to take note of the two different institutions, adding that the planned strike by the GRCL does not impact the GRDA or its activities.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini