The Minister of Transport, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has stressed the importance of instituting well-defined poli­cies to ensure sustainable and efficient transportation system in the country.

He said the transport sector played a crucial role in the daily lives of Ghanaians as it provid­ed adequate access to goods and services, which ultimately would promote the socioeconomic growth and improved quality of lives of the citizens.

The minister in a speech read for him at a one-day regional dissemination workshop on Na­tional Transportation and Na­tional Electric Vehicle policies in Ho, here in the Volta Region, yesterday, said that would pave the way for the various Metro­politan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMAs) to set out their objectives on how to com­ply with the policies.

Mr Asiamah noted that prior to an institutional study of the transport sector, the regulatory and asset management agen­cies in the aviation and marine sectors were compliant with international best practices, however the road and railways sectors lagged behind with its infrastructure.

According to the Transport Minister, the transport sector continued to face challenges over the years, which required better coordination and integra­tion of the transport sectors to fully realise the objective of the policies.

Mr Asiamah said following the challenges the transport sys­tem faced, the Transport Min­istry in collaboration with other transport sector ministries, and with support from the World Bank came up with a review of the National Transport policy.

He said the objective of the review was to assess the content and detail of the transport poli­cy in terms of the existing state of the transport sector in line with the best internal practices.

Mr Asiamah stressed that the key focus of the revised national transport policy was to promote innovation and the adoption of new technologies in the transport sector including electric vehicles.

The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, said the National Transport policies would help stimulate economic growth, create jobs and reduce emissions that pollute the envi­ronment.

Dr Letsa, therefore, pledged the preparedness of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) to support team players to ensure a better transportation system in the region.  FROM SAMUEL AGBE­WODE, HO