Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah has criticised the transport ministry for allowing transport operators to increase fares by 15 percent amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to him, the increment is certainly going to cushion drivers but what about passengers? he quizzed. He was of the opinion that the ministry could have tried other alternatives to favour both drivers and passengers.
“How long are you going to sustain increases in transport fares? If tomorrow morning the input cost variance should go up again and the drivers say they need additional transport increases, are we still going to be adding on like we have done now?…there’s no mechanism to ensure a fair system, it is the market woman, the trotro driver…those at the other end that suffer whiles the ministry continues to pretend that they are negotiating for us… We are only piling hardship on the unsuspecting market woman, unto the poor person who probably hasn’t made any financial space to pay for more,” Mr. Amoah bemoaned.
Speaking to GhanaWeb, Mr Amoah suggested that the transport ministry develop a system that allows all stakeholders to have a voice to gauge, predict, and accept what is fair instead of the routine dictate to them whenever there is an increase in fuel prices.
“What is fair is not what the transport ministry and the GPRTU goes to sit in a room to agree on for you and I and the market women to pay. What is fair is what you and I should realistically pay for,” he stressed.
Source: GhanaFeed.com
