Reduce fuel prices – NDC to govt

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has asked government to reduce the price of fuel at the pumps.

At a press conference on Monday, July 13, 2020, the party’s National Communication Officer, Mr Sammy Gyamfi, said the government must cut the price of fuel, “instead of the recent consistent increments at a time crude prices have plummeted on the world market”.

“The need to reduce fuel prices comes at a time government has directed all commercial drivers to reduce the number of passengers they take in line with social distancing protocols”, Mr Gyamfi said.

“This has drastically reduced the incomes of transport owners who are still being asked to pay more for fuel”, he noted, adding: “This is unacceptable, and prices must go down immediately”.

“We urge all Ghanaians to hold the Akufo-Addo government accountable for its handling of this pandemic”, he said.

Transport fares recently went up by 15 per cent.

Deputy Transport Minister, Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, told Class News: “The transport unions made an application to the Ministry that because of the COVID-19 and government has asked them not to load full capacity, they are losing a lot of money because of the running cost of their operations”.

“They came with two applications that the government should allow them to run full seating capacity or we should allow them to increase the transport fares. This afternoon, we held a meeting and we’ve all agreed that with effect from Saturday, 11th of this month, we have increased transport fares by 15% and in going forward, they should continue to hold the safety COVID-19 protocols,” he added.

Weeks earlier, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) suggested that the government subsidise the price of fuel at the pumps for commercial drivers in the wake of the difficulties they are grappling with as a result of the social-distancing directive of the President, which has led to a reduction of the number of passengers they carry at any time.

COPEC, in a statement, said the hike in the price of fuel from GHS4.65/litre to GH¢4.820/litre, representing some 3.8% at the pumps, is having a toll on transport operators, thus, the need for such subsidy.