'All 83 buses MASLOC gave us were damaged' - Chairman of GPRTU

Chairman of the Ghana Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Nana Nimako Bresiamah has described the 83 buses it received from the Micro Finance and Small Loans center (MASLOC) in 2019 as not fit for purpose.

According to him, the buses presented to them ”did not help the system” because they were not fit to be used for commercial purposes.

MASLOC in 2019 delivered 83 buses to the Ghana Road Transport Union (GPRTU) to work and pay over a 3-year period.

It would be recalled that MASLOC procured these buses for private transport operators in 2016 but the vehicles were abandoned for years over claims of overpricing.

The vehicles acquired by MASLOC were left abandoned because their intended beneficiaries, the GPRTU, rejected them since the former management and government inflated the cost of the vehicles to US$2million.

Investigations by rainbowradioonline.com in 2017 revealed that the vehicles, comprising 100 33-seater buses and 250 saloon cars, were to be used for commercial operations.

The vehicles were purchased for GPRTU but the transport operators rejected the vehicles because of the alleged overpricing. The buses were to be purchased by GPRTU at a cost of GH¢700, 000 each.

But after renegotiation, GPRTU took custody of the vehicles at a cost of GH¢300,000.

However, Chairman Nana Nimako in an exclusive interview with Rainbow Radio’s Kwabena Agyapong disclosed the GPRTU has regretted accepting the buses because they were already damaged before they received them.

According to him, the buses keep getting damaged on regular basis.

”The buses were already damaged before we received them. I will describe the buses as killer buses. They were not fit for purpose. It is rather draining our finances. The engine and other parts were already damaged. We would be glad to hand over the buses back to the government so we have our peace of mind. On daily basis, some parts of the buses get damaged.”