Intercity STC and Metro Mass Transit losses millions due to coronavirus outbreak

Inter-City STC and Metro Mass Transit Limited are experiencing one of their leanest seasons as passenger volumes drop due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The two state-owned transport companies have lost around 60 percent of their monthly revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a report by Daily Graphic, the transport companies are struggling to pay the salaries of their staff.

Patronage has reduced as public concern grows about the health risk from traveling.

Nana Akomea, the Managing Director of Inter-City STC, said the company had lost 70 percent of its GH¢5 million monthly revenue to the pandemic and could barely maintain its wage bill and meet operational costs.

He said "Our international operations to Cotonou in Benin, Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire and Lome in Togo, as well as Burkina Faso, accounting for 40 percent of our monthly revenue, but we lost all of them because of the closure of the country’s borders.

"About half of the remaining 60 percent of the revenue that is from domestic sources has also been lost due to the physical distancing requirement because our buses now take half of their capacity."

He added that the transport company was suffocating to meet a monthly GH¢1.5 million wage bill, in addition to fuel cost of GH¢1.4 million.

"So far, we have been able to pay our 700 workers 50 percent of their salaries for April 2020, hoping to pay the outstanding amount later. We have sent a proposal to the government for support; the situation is dire and we hope to get a favourable response," he added.

On the part of MMT, the Corporate Communications Manager of the company, George Krobea Asante, said the company, which survived on internally generated funds (IGF), had suffered "drastic revenue losses".

He noted that apart from having to operate its buses at less than 50 percent capacity, in compliance with the physical distancing directive, the company spent the meagre revenue it generated on putting in place safety systems to prevent the spread of the virus.

"We are in a dire financial situation because of the negative effects of COVID-19 and are struggling to keep and pay workers. The management has, therefore, sent a distress call to the government, through the COVID-19 Committee, for support, and that is how workers are being paid till now," he stated