Many drivers at various lorry stations in Accra were on Wednesday complying with new fares agreed upon between the Ghana Road Transport Co-ordinating Council (GRTCC) and the Ministry of Road and Transport following new fuel prices.
When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the Accra-Bawaleshie and Accra-Tema New Town stations it found that the confusion that arose after Friday's fuel price hike had cleared.
The GRTCC successfully negotiated a 40 percent increase in fares instead of 30 percent agreed on Friday after petrol prices were increased by 90.4 per cent. In an interview with the GNA, Nicholas Sowah, Station Manager for Accra-Bawaleshie Union, said the union and the drivers had discussed the new fares and were no longer charging the arbitrary fares.
Sowah said they were charging 2,000 cedis when the new fuel prices were announced, but they were now charging 1,500 cedis for the same route. He expressed the hope that as time goes more of his colleagues would understand the new measures and abide by them.
Sowah said even though everything is going on well, some of the drivers who drive Nissan Urvan buses have been complaining that the enforcement by police of the number of passengers the vehicles should carry would affect their income.
At the Accra-Tema New Town station, Eric Teye Puplampu, the station manager, said drivers in his union were still charging the arbitrary fares because their route did not appear in the list published on the new fares. Puplampu said they were waiting for directives from their officers to decide on what to do.
