Deploy the buses now! - Lawyer urges government to end 'trotro wahala'

Lawyer Agambire M. William Majeed has urged the government to deploy the buses it recently procured to address the transportation challenges urban dwellers face in commuting to and from work daily.

He noted that despite assurances from the government that concerns surrounding the urban transport system would be addressed following public outcry a few months ago, the situation has persisted.

According to him, many commuters in urban centres, especially Accra, still spend long hours queuing at various bus terminals to get commercial vehicles to and from work.

Agambire M. William Majeed criticised the government for relying on public relations (PR) tactics in responding to the issue instead of taking concrete action by deploying additional buses to ease the burden on commuters.

“Every day, I ask myself why we have a Transport Minister and why he draws a salary at the expense of the ordinary Ghanaian every month if he cannot fix the intra-urban public transport system.

“A few months ago, there was widespread concern about the long queues at bus terminals and the daily struggle to get trotro to work.

“As usual, a lot of PR was deployed in response to the problem. National security personnel were even deployed to our roads and trotro terminals, with assurances that the government was importing buses to resolve the challenge.

“Months later, the problem persists. As early as 4 a.m., people begin queuing, and by 3 p.m., the queues form again because everyone is rushing to get home early,” he lamented.

He continued, “Some weeks ago, we were told that about 100 buses had arrived to ease the intra-urban public transport crisis, yet we are yet to see a single bus on our roads.

“What kind of ineptitude is this? Did the government or the Transport Minister import the buses for decoration?

“Mr Transport Minister, in case you do not know, this issue is affecting productivity. Get the 100 buses into our cities and, at the very least, fear God and fix this problem.”

Ghana’s urban transport system continues to face major challenges, with the private sector largely dominating public transportation through the use of old and poorly maintained buses. Railway transport remains nearly non-existent, while advanced transit systems such as trams and sky trains are absent from the country’s transport infrastructure.