Floating drivers to be arrested for prosecution

Winneba(C/R), April 21, GNA -With effect from Friday, April 23, floating commercial drivers caught picking passengers in Winneba would be arrested and prosecuted.

Captain Steve Kwamena Armah (Rtd), the Acting District Chief Executive for Awutu-Effutu-Senya, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Winneba on Wednesday.

He said a special taskforce had been formed to deal with the Drivers, adding that he would personally lead the team to make its work more effective.

Capt. Armah expressed regretted that operators of the floating vehicles mostly mini-buses that shuttled between Agona Swedru and Winneba daily, more often than not, failed to pay lorry park tolls thus denying the District Assembly of huge sums of revenue.

This is because they did not enter the various lorry parks that the Assembly had established in the area so that they would be obliged by toll collectors to honour their tax obligations.

Besides, the majority of the drivers also handled their vehicles recklessly even when driving in town, adding that they always ignored useful advice offered them too, by commuters and road safety administrators with impunity.

Capt. Armah said the Assembly would not allow the recalcitrant drivers to continue with their lawless activities, adding that people, who infringed the law of the land must be brought to book for others to learn from it.

He said the establishment of the taskforce was necessitated by the persistent refusal of the commercial drivers to adhere strictly to traffic regulations and the byelaws empowering the District Assembly to collect lorry park tolls.

Capt. Armah said the various District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies added extra money to what they mobilised from the lorry parks for the maintenance of the lorry parks.