As part of the government's endeavor to alleviate traffic congestion in the Ashanti Region's capital, Kumasi will become the first city in Ghana to have an Electric Light Rail Transportation (Tram System).
The tram system is a sophisticated kind of transportation that is largely prevalent in Europe. This mode of transportation uses a rail that moves on tramway lines on public city streets.
The tram technology that will be used in Kumasi is being developed by Knights A.S. of the Czech Republic in partnership with Ghana's Ministry of Railway Development.
Dr. Karl Laryea, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Knights A.S., stated at the company's 25th Anniversary launch in Accra that when completely deployed, the system will change existing urban transport infrastructure in the Ashanti Region. The tram system will operate three main lines, with the goal of decongesting Kumasi and facilitating traffic flow. It will also drastically reduce travel time within the country's second-largest city. To ensure the success of this project, Dr. Laryea stated that a significant transfer of know-how to indigenous peoples who will run the tram system after it is created is required.
"In this regard, Knights A.S. of the Czech Republic facilitated the signing of an MoU between the KNUST and Czech Technical University in Prague for Ghanaian professors and technicians to be trained in the Czech Republic - who will impart the knowledge gained to Ghanaian students in the KNUST Engineering and Transportation Faculties on how to operate and maintain the tram system," he said. Knights A.S. has been involved in several sectors of the Ghanaian economy. The company is creating a complete poultry project, including breeder farms, a hatchery with over 20 million eggs for day-old chicks, a feed mill, and a processing factory with a capacity of 16,500 birds per hour.
"When completed, this factory will produce thirty (30) percent of the poultry meat consumed in Ghana locally, reducing our reliance on foreign imports and supplies and creating jobs for the country's youth," he stated. Dr. Laryea stated that Knights. A.S of Czech Republic, in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, has created two unique tractors for small and medium-scale farmers: the GLOBAL Multipurpose Mini Tractor and the CABRIO Compact Tractor. In 2019, the firm signed an Export Contract Agreement with Ghana's Ministry of Roads and Highways for the financing, design, fabrication, supply, and installation of 50 composite modular steel bridges across the country's 16 regions.
"The €47.5 million modular bridges project is the largest single contract managed by Knights Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the firm, to date," Dr. Laryea added.
According to Dr. Laryea, the bridge projects are in various stages of development and will be completed by May 2023. Dr. Laryea described the Weija Bridge as one of the strategic bridges that will provide a vital passage for automobile traffic, not to mention schoolchildren and women who have previously crossed the Weija River in improvised canoes. "We are also constructing a bridge on the Kpong Odumasi road at Oterpkolu that will replace a 128-year-old makeshift bridge built by our previous colonial masters with a concrete bridge."
