Transport hike: Some drivers in Kumasi reluctantly accept 15% increment

Some drivers in Kumasi Wednesday said the 15 percent increment in lorry fares did not meet their expectations but expressed the hope that it would somehow cushion them to meet their daily sales.

Though the transport unions were agitating for a 30 percent increase, they have agreed to the 15 percent following series of negotiations with the Government.

They said the negative effect of the fuel price increment was such that almost all their daily sales were used to buy fuel and appealed to passengers to accept the new fares to ensure peace.

The Government, together with the various transport groups, on Monday, announced a 15 percent increase in transport fares effective Saturday, February 26, this year.

According to the drivers, the increment was necessary to help them stay in business after frequent increases in the prices of petroleum products and spare parts.

Mr Francis Ebo, the Secretary at OGINGA Station at the Asafo Lorry Terminal, told the Ghana News Agency that the increment was necessary to prevent transport owners and drivers from going bankrupt.

He said transport operators had on several occasions asked government to remove some taxes and levies on petroleum products to help stabilise the ex-pump prices, but that had not materialised.

Thus, transport operators had no option but to increase lorry fares to enable them to maintain their businesses as prices of spare parts and lubricants, among other items, had also shot up, he said.