Former Railways Minister, Joe Ghartey, has attributed the challenges faced by the government in advancing the controversial Sky Train project to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He mentioned that pivotal investors for the project withdrew due to the pandemic, resulting in delays that subsequently impacted the project’s implementation.
In an interview with Accra-based Joy News, the Member of Parliament for Essikado Ketan disclosed that South African investors for the project detailed their decision in a letter addressed to him.
“The South Africans pulled out after COVID… What they wrote to me was that because of COVID, things have changed, they can’t come. That is what they wrote to me, that we have to wait,” he recounted.
When asked whether the government should make plans to resume the Sky Train project, Joe Ghartey indicated that it is “up to them [government].”
“It depends on how much money you have, it [also] depends on whether the people are prepared to do it,” he added.
In 2018, the Ghana Sky Train Limited was established by Africa Investor Holdings Limited seeking to incorporate a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in Mauritius for the Accra Sky Train Project’s development through a Design, Build, Finance, and Operate arrangement.
The Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) is said to have made a $2 million payment to acquire 10 ordinary shares in the SPV for the project.
The project was later fraught with delays and subsequently hit a snag. In 2021, the Auditor General’s report labeled the transaction as a net liability.