Speaking to Pan African News, some commercial drivers in Accra have expressed their disappointment in the government and other bodies like the GPRTU for hesitating to increase the transport fares following the recent hikes in fuel prices in the country.
They elaborated on how the rise in fuel prices have affected their business. According to them, the increase in fuel prices coupled with other factors such as the shoot up of spare parts prices and DVLA charges have necessitated their cry for the reflection in transport fares.
They explained that due to the continuous increment in fuel prices they have absorbed in recent times, it has reached a tipping point where their business is hugely affected.
Nurudeen Issah, a trotro driver lamented about how the refusal to increase transport fare has affected his business poorly. He claims he hardly makes any profit from from his daily sales and that significantly affected the quality of living for himself and his family.
Abdul Fatau, also a driver suggested that the government cut down on the fuel taxes, because the increment does not only affect drivers but also passengers.
According to him, increase in fares usually creates tension between drivers and passengers due to the hard economic situation in the country. Therefore if there’s a decline fuel prices, an increase in transport fares will not be necessary.
Another driver Mr. Issah also expressed concern about the fact that there has not been a reflection of recent increased fuel prices in transport fares. He explained that that the increase in fuel price has affected the prices of a lot of commodities causing a higher cost of living for them.
Passengers shared their opinions on how an increase in transport fares will affect them terribly.
Haruna Iddrisu, a fashion designer said the hike in fuel prices have already caused difficulty in his livelihood. Therefore an increase in transport charges will cause further financial hardship for him . He also pleaded with government to cut down on the taxes that has been added to fuel prices to enable drivers to maintain the recent transport fares.
Story by Richeal Adjei.