Drivers lament incessant increment in fuel prices as passengers bemoan fare hikes

Drama and banters in public transport usually known as trotro may go on for some time, should government and the GPRTU fail to come to a decision to favour both transporters and passengers and clearly communicate it to the public.

Following the recent indication of transport price hikes by GPRTU, some drivers speaking to GhanaWeb noted that they agree the

Read full articleincrement is indiscriminate but have no option but to do it in order to keep the business running, particularly because fuel prices at the various fuel stations keep increasing by the day.

"We sympathise with passengers but we have to increase our prices to survive. When you drive into a fuel station, you will realise their prices are inconsistent, they increase by the day and we are unable to make proper sales, talk of giving car owners their share of the money,” an angry driver noted.

“Government should come clear and communicate to the public, my windscreen was broken by a passenger when I asked him to pay 6 cedis, he even called thugs to deal with me, and walked away without any form of apprehension. The policeman around did not budge but just concentrated on directing traffic. Making sales to car owners is now a headache, after buying fuel, you are left with nothing, we are suffering,” another driver added.

Another driver added that, though there has been no clear communication, they have to do the ‘needful’.

“We have waited for government to effect increment but whenever our leaders sit with the transport ministry, the meeting ends inconclusively. We are tired of waiting so we are doing the needful,” he noted.

Meanwhile, some passengers have asked government and business owners to do something about their salaries, to enable them to cope with the current hardship.

Speaking to GhanaWeb, some passengers noted that they cannot blame the drivers much since everyone is bearing the brunt of the economic hardship, asking government to come clear and tell citizens what they are doing to avert the situation.

“A person will budget their money and get on a bus only to realise that the money they estimated has increased. It is not fair, there is no fairness anywhere but this is not cool, government needs to sit with the appropriate bodies and make the communication clear,” a passenger noted.

The Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council, has, however, asked Ghanaians to ignore the reported increment and stick to the old fares since there have been no conclusions or an agreement on any form of increment.