Government urged to rescue OSA

The Omnibus Services Authority (OSA) should be given "lifeblood" to play its expected role in the Mass Transit System to facilitate the movement of urban-rural and rural-urban commuters.

The 76-year-old OSA from its establishment was the pride of students, workers and traders, who were assured of a reliable means of transport to their destinations, Mr Samuel Adu -Yeboah, NPP Member of Parliament of Agona East, said in a statement in Parliament on Tuesday.

He was making a contribution on the role of OSA Transport Limited in the government's mass transport endeavours.

He said there was the need for government to marshal all available resources to 'rescue the perishing and to care for the dying OSA Transport Company' as the only hope for the urban-rural or rural-urban commuters in the country.

This should be done in the light of doses of life given to the Inter-City STC and the Metro Mass Transit System that is also involved in intra-city transits.

Mr Adu-Yeboah said OSA with a workforce of 790 across the country now had only 53 buses on road out of a total fleet of 331 with 184 serviceable but off-the-road buses and 94 unserviceable buses.

The company was slated for divestiture in 1995 but this was reversed in 2002 with the change of government, he said, adding that in 2000 the company had 103 buses running in 2000 but was reduced to 61 last year.

Mr Adu -Yeboah said the distressful situation of the company was such that it owed workers salary arrears of up to 13 months and several other creditor agencies of millions of cedis and as a result the Management and Board were under very severe pressure from the staff.

This had resulted in indiscipline creeping into the operation of the company as staff now lacked confidence in the Management and creditors were continually threatening and implementing court actions against the company.

The member said one should not so soon wish the collapse of such a vital national asset considering its role in national issues of evacuating refugees and returnees and offering support for the Electoral Commission during elections and assisting when private transport operators refused to ply certain routes.

Mr Modestus Ahiable, NDC- Ketu North, said it was unfortunate that none of the buses provided for the mass transport were allocated to OSA with their experiences while unnamed private companies were made to use the facilities of OSA.

He appealed to government to make available to OSA some of the vehicles and to either take a bold step in divesting the company or to re-capitalise it to make it functional.

Mrs Grace Coleman, Deputy Minister of Finance, expressed concern about the absence of the maintenance culture, especially among big companies that had resulted in their collapse.

She said the government had decided to understudy the problems of OSA, seek advice and to consider whether to divest it or not.

Mr Edward Salia, NDC- Jirapa, commended government for her efforts at improving intra-city transport but noted that the process was being poorly implemented and if care were not taken the effort would not achieve its aim.

He said it was not enough to import second-hand and right-hand drive vehicles into the system and expect to derive sustained achievement without the involvement of the private sector.

Mr Salia said there was also the need to consider the road network in the country and for an improved route system to make the mass transport more successful and sustainable while the role of OSA was redefined.

Mr Joe Gidisu, NDC North Tongu, said it was of concern that government was softly collapsing OSA with its selective recruitment of the drivers and utilisation of its facilities without considering the plight of the workforce.