Expect transport fares increment after Monday – GPRTU
With the imminent increment of transport fares in the offing, the Coalition of Transport Operators is hoping to make a final decision on the percentage by which they will increase their fares on Monday 21st February 2022.
This was revealed by a leading member of the coalition, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union.
After a series of meetings, the government and the coalition still hold different positions on the percentage at which transport fares should be increased.
While the government wants a maximum of 15% increment, the coalition has pegged its figure at 30%.
This resulted in the last meeting between the parties ending inconclusively, as some transport operators like the Committed Drivers Association have grown impatient and gone ahead to announce their decision to increase their fares by 30% without regard to the outcome of the meeting with government.
The group has since been called out by the GPRTU for their announcement saying it was premature as it should have waited for the final outcome of the meeting on Monday.
“We are saying the 10% to 15% [proposal of the government] is not enough for us. We were expecting that all members of the negotiation will remain calm for us to complete that roundtable negotiation on Monday 21st February before we can issue any press statement or press release [on new fares],” said the General Secretary of GPRTU, Godfred Abulbire.
He explained that the coalition admits the delay in coming out with a concrete decision on the transport fares but expects all unions to be patient until a final decision is taken.
Mr Abulbire assured that the coalition is certain that there will be a transport fare hike after next week Monday’s meeting but the percentage by which it will increase is yet to be decided upon by both parties.
“I can say yes [fares will go up next week] because most of the drivers and operators have run out of patience after weeks. Our next line of action is to make sure that we increase the fare. So, for sure, after the Monday [meeting] all commuters should expect an increment in fares. But the percentage hasn’t been agreed yet,” he noted.
