London, Oct. 17, GNA - The Volta River Authority (VRA) needs more than 10 million dollars to revamp the operations of the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) to bring its services to an acceptable level. The investment to be sourced from a strategic investor would be used to further develop its operations for both transportation and tourism. It would be used to acquire new vessels and open new stations to make the operations of VLTC more useful to the communities along the Volta Lake to reduce and recoup costs.

Mr Obeng Boampong, Head of Investments at the VRA, said this at a seminar at the Ghana EXPO 2003 in London on: "Business and Investment Opportunities in the VRA - Powering Ghana's Development". Seminars are running alongside the Exhibition to expose Ghana's investment opportunities.

He said VLTC has five stations at Adawso, Yeji, Dambai and Kete-Krachi and runs five vessels operating cargo and passenger services between Akosombo in the Easter Region; Yeji in Brong Ahafo Region and Buipe in Northern Region.

There are intermediate stops at Kete-Krachi and Benamso in the Volta Region and Torkonya and Hausakope in Brong Ahafo. The VLTC, a subsidiary of the VRA, transports petroleum products from the Akosombo Port to Buipe for onward supply to the Northern parts of the country.

The Government is working on extending fuel pipelines to make the commodity available in a safe and reliable manner in the North. Mr Boampong said previously the VLTC was operated as a social service resulting in huge loss to the VRA and the State.

"This includes operational losses on operations that were borne by Government over the years. Now what we want to do is to bring in a strategic investor who will change the mode of operations and run the operations on a full commercial basis," he said.

Mr Boampong said VRA was undertaking the "Debre Shoals Dredging Project" on the fairway, which when completed would reduce the frequency of interruptions in the operations of VLTC during droughts.

Considering the strategic future for the company, Mr Boampong said the VRA and the Government wanted to improve the quality of transport services on the lake for both passengers and cargo in a safe, regular and reliable manner.

"We also intend to ensure the financial sustainability of the company through the provision of quality service and competitive tariffs while increasing market share of the company in the Volta Lake influence area by an average annual growth of 10 per cent."

Mr Boampong said the services of VLTC would facilitate international trade and shipping between Ghana and its landlocked neighbours such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.