We deserve 30% but settled for 20% because your salaries have not increased – Commercial Drivers to Ghanaians
The Concerned Drivers Association (CDA) has defended its increment of transport fares by stating that they could have increased it to over 30 per cent but had to settle for 20 per cent because it noted that the salaries of workers have not gone up.
The association explains that though it wished that transport fares could remain the same, it had no option other than to increase prices because they were running at losses.
Mr David Agboado, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Concerned Drivers Association, said, “the last increment was done in February 2022. At the time, fuel was sold at GH¢7.99, but now it goes for GH¢11.30 and so you’ll see that it is 30 per cent. Look at fuel prices, cost of tyres, and lubricants, it is more than 30%, but we all said wages have not been increased so if we do it that way, it will be hard on everyone, so we agreed to start with 20%”.
It is interesting to note that some commercial drivers at some bus terminals are already charging 20% more on transport fares ahead of the expected increment in transport fares by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) on Friday.
The situation has left many Ghanaians complaining about the negative toll on their finances.
“Negotiation for possible fare increment started in March 2022, and we’ve written to the Minister of Transport four times, but there was no positive result and because we are business people, and we don’t want our business to collapse we have to act. We don’t want to run at a loss, so we did what is right,” Mr Agboado said.
Mr Agboado also reacted to a directive by the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC) asking Ghanaians to ignore the purported increment in transport fares.
The CDA PRO reiterated that Emmanuel Ohene-Yeboah, the General Secretary of the GRTCC who signed the statement “is not doing the bidding of transporters. He is doing his own parochial interest something. We are serious business-minded people and will do what is right for the driving public.”
