Roads Ministry to engage aggrieved Tanker Drivers on Thursday

A Thursday, June 29, meeting has been set by the Ministry of Roads and Highways to meet the aggrieved National Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union.

Details of the meeting have not been revealed but the sit-down follows an indefinite strike by the Union which started on Monday, June 26 on the basis of bad roads leading to various depots in Takoradi, Tema, and Kumasi, operated by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST).

Despite the assurances by government that the roads will be fixed, the drivers remain adamant, emphasizing that they would not go back to post until the deteriorating roads are in good condition.

Speaking in an interview on Citi News, Vice Chairman for the Ghana National Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union, Sunday Alabi reiterated that the safety of members of his outfit is paramount hence they would only go back to work if the roads were fixed.

“In this situation, there is nothing we can do because we are rather helping the government not to incur any debts again. But as we speak our safety is the most important, so we want to hold it in our own hands. That is why we want it to be fixed before we continue the work in this situation,” he is quoted by citinewsroom.com.

Background:

The Ghana National Petroleum Drivers Union and the Gas Tanker Drivers Union declared an indefinite sit-down industrial action nationwide yesterday.

It claimed that the strike was necessary due to the unmotorable nature of their roads from the GTP roundabout at Community 4 in Tema, in the Greater Accra Re­gion, linking the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) through a heavy industrial area to Kpone, capital of Kpone KatamansoDistrict.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghanaian Times yesterday, Mr Raymond Aflo, secretary of the Ghana National Petroleum Drivers Union stated that the strike will be effective until the government fixed the road.

“The road has become impass­able and creates a risk to our driv­ers, the road served eight terminal depots and over 3,500 tankers ply these routes to supply the country’s petroleum and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG).

“Vehicles including LPG trucks meander through huge potholes on this road,” he lamented.

“Last month a tanker loaded with petrol fell on its side and we had to call in the TOR emergency team, if it were an LPG truck that had this accident could we imagine the disaster it would have caused to the entire industrial enclave includ­ing TOR pipelines, the Asogli and Asaa power plants,” he stated.

MrAflo stated that there was a need for government to pay special attention to the said road due to its strategic and security nature.

He added that TOR and its human resource were significant to the nation’s development and can­not be toyed with at the expense of political expediency.

“It took a few months to con­struct roads, whenever there are by-elections in constituencies, why can’t government construct roads of strategic importance.”

He told the Ghanaian Times that there have been numerous appeals including letters and petitions to the Ministry of Roads and High­ways, including personal interac­tions with the sector minister, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah.

“In 2020, the government cut the sod for the reconstruction of the road, but till now nothing has hap­pened, we only received unfilled promises,” he stated.

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