GPRTU to turn away passengers without nose masks

The National Chair of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Kwame Kumah has promised that no passenger will be allowed aboard their vehicles if they do not wear their nose masks.

According to him, this policy and others form part of safety protocols against COVID-19 put in place by the union as they return to taking passengers at full capacity.

In an interview with Happy 98.9 FM’s Raymond Nyamador, co-host of the Happy Morning Show he said, “All terminal users, patrons, travelers and staff of transport operators, including but not limited to drivers, are to note that the wearing of nose masks before entering any terminal or onboard a public transport vehicle is compulsory.”

He noted that if a passenger without a nose mask manages to sneak into any of their commercial vehicles, the police will deal justly with the individual. “If a passenger is found not to be wearing a nose mask, the driver and the passenger both will be arrested therefore, we all need to respect the wearing of nose masks.”

The GPRTU chair explained that their appeal to pick passengers at a full capacity was backed with scientific data. He stated that the union consulted a couple of health experts who posited that so far as everyone wore their nose masks in vehicles, they will be safe.

Kwame Kumah indicated that all passengers were also required to wash their hands thoroughly under running water with soap provided at the various lorry stations before boarding vehicles.

He believes safety and regard of all COVID-19 protocols on public transport is not the sole duty of drivers and the union but appealed to passengers to support them and also get other passengers to adhere to the compulsory wearing of nose masks.

The President of Ghana as part of measures to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic directed commercial transport operators to reduce the number of passengers they carried to ensure social distancing was practiced in vehicles.

However, in his 14th address to the nation, the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo reversed his previous directive and asked commercial transport operators to resume taking passengers at full capacity.