Kwaku Ofori Asiamah
Minister for Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah has indicated that his Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government is working on a new model for the effective operation of intra-city buses in Accra.
Speaking at the Ministry of Information press briefing in Accra, he said the Ministry of Transport was not responsible for the operation of the ‘Ayalolo’ buses though they were in charge of the sector but rather the Ministry of Local Government per the arrangement the government had with its development partners.
He said, “We had come to the conclusion that the model is not working … So the development partners including the two Ministries, have come to the conclusion that we need to look at the model to look at some amendment or some adjustments”.
According to him, though they were not responsible for its operations, the Ministry was working with the developments partners to address the issues particularly the road infrastructure in a country where there are over 80 percent of private commercial vehicles operating.
On the operation of the Metro Mass Transport (MMT), the Minister said his outfit inherited about 970 buses out of which about 750 of them were over aged.
He said some of these over aged vehicles had to be auctioned to purchase new fleet to sustain operation of MMT though plans were far advanced to purchase new buses.
He further indicated that to promote road- based mass Transportation services and improve rural- urban and peri-urban linkages, the government has delivered 45 buses which were in operation while additional 55 buses would be delivered in June 2023.
Mr. Asiamah also mentioned that as part of the National Transport Policy, the Ministry has embarked on major infrastructure expansion and service to improve maritime inland waterways, aviation among others.
This he stated include “construction of the multi- purpose Terminal at the Takoradi port, construction of 12 coastal Fish Landing sites, Boankra integrated logistics terminal and several others.
He added that the government was working towards the development of a new airport in either Western or Central region as part of efforts to improve connectivity as well as make Ghana the aviation hub for the West African sub-region.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah