MMT introduces "Weekend Drive"

Accra, Oct. 19, GNA - The Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMT), is to introduce a service called "Weekend Drive" to support government's quest of encouraging the growth of domestic tourism and making it the number one foreign income earner. The service, which will commence in November this year, is also aimed at providing an affordable means of transportation for Ghanaians, especially workers, to and from tourist sites in the country at weekends. Mr. Henk Visschers, Managing Director of Metro Mass Transit Limited, said these in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday in Accra.

He said: "The essence of this project is to encourage domestic tourism in Ghana by making accessibility to these tourist sites safe, affordable and attractive, detached from any form of stress.

"The MMT acknowledges the stress that workers go through during the whole week and that is why we have come up with this project, supposed to be a stress free gateway for all who would like rejuvenate." He said currently the service is being piloted at some selected tourist sites in the Central Region including Kakum National Park, Hans Cottage, Cape Coast and Elmina Castle. Mr Visschers said as part of the project every bus would have on board a trained tourist personnel to educate passengers on the various tourist sites in the country, the benefits and challenges associated with tourism. He said MMT was collaborating with service providers to design a special package for people who will like to patronize the service. "We are networking with players in the industry like the hotels to have a special fee that will be affordable for different classes of people," Mr. Visschers said. A cross-section of workers GNA spoke to laud the idea and said such a service would help to promote healthy lifestyle, among workers. Mr. Henry Buta Odro, an accountant, said the project would enable people to travel around the country and to know about other cultural practices in other parts of the country. "I, for instance, due to work I don't have time to and the means to travel but if special packages would be given to workers, then it will encourage me to go." MMT is public mass transport system established to provide affordable, efficient and reliable transit in the metropolitan and municipal areas. 19 Oct. 09