Kufuor commissions buses for MMT

Kumasi, June 29, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor has advised stakeholders of Metro Mass Transport (MMT) to put adequate measures in place to ensure sustainable management and efficient operation of the company.

Their ultimate responsibility was to ensure the strengthening of the financial, human and logistic resources of the company to enable it to make reasonable returns on the investment. President Kufuor gave the advice when he commissioned 20 buses provided by the VDL in Netherlands and assembled at Neoplan Ghana Limited in Kumasi on Friday to augment the fleet of buses for MMT. He advised the staff to eschew negative tendencies and conduct themselves well, so as to enhance profitability, a necessary requirement for their job security.

The buses were the first consignment of 150 to be provided under the Dutch Government concessionary financing under which, 250 buses are being provided to the company out of which 100 buses had already been supplied.

President Kufuor said the government, in realizing the critical role the efficient mass transport system plays in the national development agenda, has already provided the MMT, which was piloted in Accra in 2002, a total of 625 buses and that, plans were far advanced to extend services to all district capitals by the end of 2007. An additional 1,000 buses are also to be provided to facilitate smooth transportation not only in the cities but nationwide. President Kufuor said enormous benefits have accrued to the nation and in particular patrons of the services of these buses since the inception of the project in 2002, and that over 120 million passengers had used the MMT services.

Besides, over 2,500 jobs had been created. It is expected that job creation through MMT would be increased to 3,000 by the end of the year.

He announced that a collaborative pilot scheme for urban-public transportation in Greater-Accra and Kumasi aside, MMT services was underway to ease traffic congestion and problems regarding mass public transport in the cities.

He therefore, urged the collaborative partners, which are the Ministries of Transportation, Local Government, Rural Development and Environment as well as the World Bank to work hard for the early realization of this important project.

Mr. Felix Owusu-Agyapong, acting Minister of Transportation, said the company in a bid to enhance service delivery to the public was continuously putting in place terminal and passenger waiting facilities at vantage places to serve passengers.

He said the MMT carries an estimated 5.5 million passengers a month on its routes all over the country and by December 2006 the company had carried 55 million passengers nationwide and covered a total distance of 24.3 million kilometres.

Through the spreading of its activities to other districts, the number of passengers carried increased to 128 million passengers by the end of February 2007.

He, however, said the MMT was faced with challenges such as harassment of company's staff and destruction of properties, especially buses, slow pace of work on other passenger waiting facilities as well as inadequate and outdated terminal facilities.

Daasebre Osei Bonsu II, Mamponghene who represented Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, conveyed Otumfuo's appeal to Mrs Alida Remmelzwal, Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana to establish a bus manufacturing company in Kumasi for which land had already been provided. Mr Emmanuel Asamoah Owusu-Ansah, Ashanti Regional Minister, cautioned drivers and conductors to take good care of the buses and properly manage the proceeds of their operations so that investors could derive maximum benefits.

Mrs. Remmelzwal, on her part said the buses had been specially designed to suit tropical weather conditions and African roads and guarantee their durability.