GPRTU to ban preaching on commercial buses over coronavirus

The Chairman of the Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU), Kwame Kuma, has hinted that the Union will no longer allow preachers on their vehicles until further notice.

This according to him is because some preachers spew spits on passengers, an act that has the potential of spreading the dreaded coronavirus.

He advised all passengers using public and commercial transports in the country, to stop engaging in political arguments, saying all are measures being adopted to control the spread of the virus.

Mr Kuma argued that some Ghanaians have the habit of engaging in unnecessary arguments about politics and football on commercial transports and by that means, saliva is spread from one person to another.

"My advice to passengers is that they should stop engaging in unnecessary arguments and debate when they are in commercial transport and rather have them when they go home."

Speaking on Accra based radio station, StarrFM, Mr Kuma said GPRTU would also stop all those who mount public transport to sell local medicine.

He alleged commercial drivers have been asked to offer passengers going on short distance journeys, hand sanitisers to protect themselves, while passenger going long-distance would be provided with soap and water in addition to the hand sanitisers.

He revealed that the Union supported all the directives issued by the government and would meet tomorrow to educate their members on how to enforce the directives.

He added that after tomorrow's meeting, GPRTU would visit the various transport unions to ensure strict enforcement of these directives.

Meanwhile, an observation made by Daily Heritage yesterday morning indicated that some commercial vehicle drivers were yet to use sanitisers and other measures.

Background

Ghana announced two suspected cases of coronavirus last Thursday, March 12, 2020 but as of yesterday, March 16, the cases had risen to six confirmed cases leading to the shutdown of basic and secondary schools as well as universities and other tertiary institutions.