The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Hon. Henry Quartey has directed Transport Union Executives in the region to help move commercial drivers to their designated terminals to allow for free-flow of vehicular and human traffic in the city or risk sanctions.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement with Transport Union Executives at the Accra City Hall on Tuesday, the Minister gave a 2- week ultimatum to the commercial drivers to adhere to the directive while bemoaning the increasingly alarming indiscipline acts of drivers.
Hon. Quartey said commercial vehicles must load from the terminals and not under flyovers, overheads and bus stop to ease vehicular traffic in and around the city. He strongly posited that a court order would be secured to seize vehicles of drivers who are caught indulging in all forms of vehicular infractions that induce traffic, cautioning that offenders who fail to pay the fine within the stipulated time would have their vehicles auctioned and sold.
With regards to the apprehending and sanctioning of would-be culprits, he bemoaned the culture where a call is placed to a ‘big man’ anytime there is an act of indiscipline being perpetuated in the city warning that no biases would be entertained.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah who was present at the meeting in a remark expressed profound happiness over the move by the Regional Minister to engage the Transport Union Executives on halting the activities of commercial drivers at unapproved places which had become a menace declared his full support for the exercise.
The Mayor of Accra was hopeful that with the cooperation of stakeholders, the Minister’s dream of relieving Accra of heavy vehicular traffic would be a realisation.
Some executives of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the Progressive Transport Owners’ Association (PROTOA) who operate from various spots in the region during the question and answer session, raised concerns that some security officials are one way or the other involved in vehicular infractions which makes it difficult to deal with the culprits when apprehended and therefore appealed to the authorities to discharge their duties without fear or favour with regards to the implementation of the said agenda.