Accra, Nov.29, -Dr Thomas Mensah
an American inventor has called on government to develop bullet trains in Ghana
to facilitate the movements of goods and services in the country.
He said the Bullet Train would
move fast in transporting people to and from the urban areas, which would
improve the country’s economy and the Science and technology sector.
The American Inventor made this
call when he visited Professor Frimpong Boateng, Minister of Environment,
Science, Technology and Innovation in Accra on Wednesday.
“We can do so by building bullet
trains in Ghana, which is very important, it means in one and half hours I can
leave Accra to Tamale’’ he said.
A bullet train is a high-speed
passenger train in japan, which runs at speeds from 200-300 kilometres per hour
on the shinkansen network.
Dr Mensah said dealing with
industrialization and innovation and Science and technology were pivotal and
strategic for the development of the Ministry and gave the assurance that he
would work closely with the leadership of the country and the ministry in
making Ghana a better country.
He said although the parts of the
train would be brought from China, the items would be assembled locally by
Ghanaians with a joint participation by Ghanaian scientists and engineers from
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Cape Coast University as
well as University of Ghana, Legon.
Prof Kwabena Frimpong –Boateng,
Minister of Environment Science, Technology and Innovation said if the country
develops its ICT centres, machinery and tools would make it easy in developing
the country’s Science and Technology sector.
“Everything is technology which
means the poverty gap is a technological gap’’ he stated.
He said awareness creation
messages for the advancement of science and technology was yet to go done well
with the people adding, ‘’ The technology I am referring to is what we can do
as a people ourselves rather than heavily relying on other countries’’ he said.
This he said was a relatively
accomplishable task as some of the items were produced locally.
“We have been handicapped for
many years but the overnment has made progress to move to the next chapter in
drafting the National Science and Technology policy and the presidential
advisory policy on Science and Technology’’.he stated.
He said a Science, Technology and
Innovation (STI) fund had been created upon endorsement from President Nana
Akuffo Addo, to help in financing research projects in relation to Science and
Technology in Ghana.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng said the
implementation of the bullet train system was critical and Ghana could also replicate such feats in
revolutionizing Science and Technology in the nation just like how other
developed countries had done.
“We need to produce our own spare
parts and machine parts, and the ability to perform maintenance on our
machinery to reduce the risks of breakdowns” he said.
He said a research done by the
department of Chemical Engineering found out that Ghana imported about six
million litres of alcohol mostly for the beverage industry and there was a
company in the Volta Region that alone produced one million litres.
He said “we import about 59
percent of our own consumption, but we have the capacity to produce even more
than 60 percent with the aid of adequate machinery.”
The challenge he said was the
lack of machinery to implement projects which could be solved through adequate
funding.
He stated the Science and
Technology sector in the country was weak, but was optimistic about the great
ideals of the inventor to help develop the country.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng thanked Dr
Mensah for his visit and sharing developmental ideals with him.
GNA
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