Minister And Dept. Heads Discuss Fuel Price Increases

A call has been made to the Government to consider as a matter of urgency the introduction of the Metro-Mass Transit System (MMTS) in the Northern Sector of the country.

At a meeting with the Regional Minister Mr Mahami Salifu in Bolgatanga on Friday, Heads of Government Departments and Agencies called for the allocation of some of the new buses the government had taken delivery of recently to the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions to ease transportation problems arising from the increase in fuel prices.

The meeting was convened by the Regional Co-ordinating Council to discuss how best the departmental heads could help explain the rationale of the recent fuel price increases and other related government policies to the local population. The Heads of Departments present agreed that the petroleum price increase was justifiable in view of the Tema Oil Refinery's (TOR) huge indebtedness and also in view of the fact that government could not continue to subsidise petroleum prices at the expense of health, education and other vital social services.

They argued, however, that in most cases they found it difficult keeping departmental vehicles on road because they did not have the money required to fuel those vehicles.

The Heads of Departments indicated that as it was now economically unwise to fuel an official vehicle to Accra, the only alternative was to resort to reliable public transport. They decried the risks and inconveniences entailed in travelling on the State Transport buses which they described as old, with frequent breakdowns in recent times and urged government to allocate some of the new buses to the Northern routes.

They further deplored the tendency for traders, shopkeepers and transport owners in the regions to take undue advantage of the fuel price increases to raise the prices of essential goods and services arbitrarily. They appealed to government to institute adequate measures that would protect workers from unscrupulous traders and transport owners in the event of any fuel price increase in the future.

The Regional Minister had earlier explained that if there were another way of getting the country out of its difficult economic situation government would not have taken the painful decision to increase the prices of petroleum products.

Mr Salifu urged Ghanaians to refrain from politicizing the issue of fuel price increases, saying it was a national emergency. He stressed the need for public servants to help to disseminate government policy in the rural areas, and to objectively explain the issues at stake to the people. He noted that although the rate of fuel smuggling in the region had declined as a result of the recent price increases, the canker had not been completely uprooted. He, therefore, urged District Chief Executives and Security Agencies in the border areas to step up vigilance.