A group calling itself the Concerned Drivers Association of Ghana has rejected the 13 percent increment in transport fares announced by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).
The group says it expected a 20 percent increment, and has therefore given the government a two-day ultimatum to review the decision.
Drivers who belong to the association say they will implement the 20 percent increment on Saturday if the government fails to grant their request.
āWe 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 seekingā, it said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the GPRTU, which is the officially known association for drivers in the country, announced the 13 percent upward adjustment effective Saturday, June 5, 2021.
The fares will cover intercity (tro-tro), intercity (long-distance) and shared taxis. The decision, according to the union, is to accommodate predominantly the recent increase in fuel prices.
It however said the government has āassured that it will continue with efforts to prevent a steep rise in input cost.ā
Below is the full statement by the Concerned DriversĀ
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