The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) announced a 13 percent increase in transport charges, which was opposed by the Concerned Drivers Association of Ghana (C-DAG).
The company claims it anticipated a 20% increase and has given the government a two-day deadline to reconsider the decision.
If the government does not accept the association’s request, drivers say they would apply the 20 percent increase on Saturday.
“We wish to state that, the 13% increment cannot in any way sustain our businesses considering the rate of increment in spare parts and fuel on recent times. Without mincing words, we shall implement the 20% increment starting from Saturday should government fail to grant us what we are seeking”, it said in a statement.
The GPRTU, the country’s official drivers’ union, announced the 13 percent increase on Wednesday, which will take effect on Saturday, June 5, 2021.
Read Also: Fares for transport to increase by 13% on Saturday
Intercity (tro-tro), intercity (long-distance), and shared taxis will all be covered by the tariffs. According to the organization, the decision was made to reflect the recent rise in gasoline costs.
The government, on the other hand, has “assured that it would continue with measures to avoid a substantial spike in input costs,” according to the report.
Below is the full statement by the Concerned Drivers
The Concerned Drivers Association of Ghana(C-DAG) is by this statement rejecting the 13% increment of public transport fares by the Ministry of Transport.
We wish to state that, the 13% increment cannot help in any way to sustain our businesses considering the rate of increment in spare parts and fuel commodities in recent times.
If we agree to the proposal made by the government, we stand a greater risk of kicking ourselves out of business.
In view of this, we wish to categorically state that, the actual increment in terms of percentage according to our calculations should have been 20%.
We are thus giving the government up to two days to review the proposal.
Without mincing words, we shall implement the 20% increment starting from Saturday should government fail to grant for us what we are seeking for.
It is a matter of knowledge to all Ghanaians of the vehicular traffic situations drivers encounter on our main routes.
In recent times, it has taken drivers more than 10hours to drive from Accra to Kumasi. Those crossing the Adomi bridge have also encountered similar situations, whilst those plying the Kasoa-Cape Coast stretch have also not been spared. It must be noted that such traffic situations cause more consumption of fuel.
It must be considered that the combined situations are causing our inability to render sales to our vehicle owners. This situation is sending us to our early graves gradually as we face continuous intimidation by our car owners.
We would like to mention that, we the members of C-DAG and our colleagues with the GPRTU, Cooperative and PROTOA shall not countenance any form of intimidation of any driver by anyone from the National Security or any other state security agency.
We shall not hesitate to invoke curses with schnapps and a black dog on anyone who dares to intimidate us after our 20% increment.
We however call on Ghanaians to rally behind us since they would not be happy to see our businesses collapse.
Long Live Ghana, Long Live C-DAG
Source: CITINEWSROOM
