File photo
Car hiring which used to a profitable business in Tema is on the decline in the Harbour and industrial Metropolis.
According to Mr Bernard Nana Atiemo, Second Trustee of the Tema/Accra Hiring and Taxis Branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, (GPRTU), their loss is the gain of tro-tro drivers.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, he opined that due to the harsh economic situation, most people prefer the tro-tro buses even though they do not find them comfortable.
Mr. Emmanuel Atta Boateng, a driver at the station, was worried about the deplorable condition they find themselves in as drivers.
He indicated that the tro-tro business has disorganized their business leaving them very little space in the business environment.
According to him, the ever increasing prices of petrol is a challenge that has exacerbated the precarious situation they find themselves.
He hinted that the driver is plunged into the maze of buying petrol from the meagre sales they make, feeding his family and paying 40 Ghana Cedis daily to their car owners.
"We can no longer take work-and-pay opportunities because the car owners put us on agreements or contracts of 100 per cent profit bases"
He attributed such circumstances to the high interest rates the owners pay on bank loans and the high import duties paid on cars.
He therefore pleaded with government to reduce petrol prices as that was the only way to salvage their condition.
Mr. M. K. Mensah, a former driver of the State Transport Company (STC) and now an owner and driver of a hiring car, observed that the work is good for him because he drives his own car and does not account to anybody.
He said that those who make sales to car owners sometimes sleep over at the station to make extra money to cover sales and their up keep.
Mr. Nicholas Quashie, the Chief Driver at the Community One/Newtown Station, attributed the decline to the many stations surrounding them "as the business has been spread thinly all over” and blamed the city authorities for doing little to salvage their plight.
According to him, the Tema Municipal Authorities (TMA) should dispatch guards to protect them from floating drivers would pick commuters at wrong points in the Metropolis.
