‘Our wives are leaving us’ – Trotro drivers lament fuel price increases

A section of commercial bus drivers, popularly called ‘trotro drivers’, say the June 1, fuel price increases, coupled with a government directive to reduce the number of passengers over the Coronavirus pandemic is taking a toll on their incomes.

One driver who works at a lorry park close the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in Accra told GhanaWeb that the situation is so bad, the wives of some of his colleagues have left them because they don’t bring home enough money.

Another driver, who gave his name only as Fofo, said he’s considering going into farming because although his car owner has reduced the daily sales, he is unable to meet the target.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) announced hikes in fuel prices in a release – an announcement many industry watchers, say, should have happened at least two weeks ago.

The upward review of the prices took effect from Monday, June 1, 2020, and was partly due to the 100percent increase in the BOST margin – from 3 pesewas a litre to 6 pesewas.

The 6 pesewas that will now be charged consumers on each litre of diesel or petrol along with other factors, works up to about 5percent increase at the products at the pumps.

The ‘trotro drivers’ who spoke to GhanaWeb have called on the government to either subsidise the price of diesel and petrol at the pumps or reverse the directive to reduce the number of passengers they can take per trip.

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