Upper West drivers comply with directive on new fares

Wa, Dec. 15, GNA - Some branches of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) operating in the Upper West Region on Monday started complying with the directive by the Union to reduce lorry fares by ten per cent.

The GPRTU issued this directive in response to the recent seventeen per cent reduction in prices of petroleum products by the National Petroleum Authority.

Mr Nuhu Mahama, Senior Industrial Relations Officer of the Union however said the drivers have warned of reverting to the old fares if the Filling Stations continued to sell fuel to them at the old prices. He said at a meeting with the drivers, some of them complained that they were still buying fuel at the old prices at some of the filling stations.

The drivers urged that the machines should be adjusted accordingly to reflect the new prices. Some of the branches operating under the GPRTU had not started implementing the new prices, while the Metro buses had started charging new fares.

For instance, passengers from Jirapa who used to pay 1.50 Ghana Cedis to Wa now pay 1.30 Ghana Cedis. A passenger who spoke to the Ghana News Agency said the new fares were good for the poor travellers, but said some private transport owners were dragging their feet.

At the Wa-Kumasi Mini Bus Station, fares had been reduced from 9.00 Ghana Cedis to 8.00 Ghana cedis for Kumasi and 7.00 Ghana Cedis for Techiman instead of the old fare of 8.00 Ghana cedis. The Takpo- Sankana-Kaleo tro-tro and Wa-Funsi-Kundungu stations were still charging the old fares as at Monday morning. A number of passengers who spoke to the GNA at the Wa lorry park, welcomed the reduction in fares, but some of them were worried that some people saw politics to be the underlying factor in the reduction of the fuel prices.