An American inventor has called on government to develop bullet trains in Ghana to facilitate the movements of goods and services in the country.
Dr Thomas Mensah 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 Prof 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. Â
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 government 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.Â
“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.â€
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.