STC Wi-Fi buses'll be well-maintained - Bawa-Mogtari

Buses with Wi-Fi access and other enhanced features, procured to revamp the Intercity STC Coaches Limited, will be effectively maintained, Deputy Minister of Transport, Joyce Bawa-Mogtari, has said.

This is important towards ensuring that STC becomes the top transportation company in the country as it undergoes rebranding to launch improved services, she added.

Mrs. Mogtari, who was speaking with Class FM's parliamentary correspondent, Ekow Annan, on Thursday, June 16, explained that a maintenance culture would be instilled in operators and users.

"SCANIA has set up a maintenance service unit here in Ghana to offer maintenance and other services for people who have purchased their buses. I am hopeful that as we are buying from this responsible company, our maintenance culture will be improved in relation to the fact that spare parts and other needed equipment will be readily affected," she said.

She admitted that some 50 buses procured for STC by the government late last year are inadequate, but were enough to begin with. She indicated that various tests were being conducted on the buses and they would soon be on the roads to offer transport services.

"The first 50 buses that government procured for STC are in the country, we went to the STC compound a few weeks ago and we are testing one of the buses on site," she added.

The proliferation of several long-distance transport companies with better services outclassed STC to the extent that only a handful of passengers went to the STC Yard in Accra to use their service.

At some point in recent years, up to 50 buses from competitor VIP were making trips to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region as compared to only one from STC. The state company only enjoyed the advantage of offering transport services to the Northern and Upper Regions and other areas not covered by VIP.