Paga border
Haulage drivers operating on the Paga-Burkina-Faso International road have come to an amicable agreement with officials of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority over the use of an inland port parking area in Paga in the Kassena-Nankana West District in the Upper East Region.
The officials of the parking area and the leadership of the Ghana Transporters Association have been deliberating over fees charged at the park, and the two bodies are expected to conclude on the fees for parking by the close of June 15, 2021.
According to a National Executive of the Ghana Transporters Association, Alhaji Osman Mohammed Awuni, for now the drivers are not paying any fee for parking at the inland port’s parking area and that is why there has been peace at the Paga border.
“The drivers pay so many monies on the road to the police and other institutions that want to take advantage of these drivers on the road. By the time a driver gets to Paga, he wouldn’t have any money on him and that is why they kicked against the outrageous fees the people at the parking area are charging. How can you charge a driver a fee of GHc50.00 for parking for four hours? So imagine how much a driver will pay if the documentation at the border delays over four hours. What if the vehicle spoils and takes 24 hours to repair. Our drivers resisted and we are talking with the Ghana Ports and Harbours officials to address the issue,” Alhaji Awuni said in an interview with DAILY GUIDE.
On Wednesday, June 2, some haulage drivers clashed with personnel of the Customs Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority at the Paga border over new parking fees at the border.
The drivers, numbering over hundred, prevented the Custom officials from collecting the fee from drivers who were leaving the lorry park, which resulted in a misunderstanding between the two groups.
Officers of the Customs Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority who were trying to keep order at the border had a tough time with the drivers, until their National Executives and officials from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority came to calm them down.
For now, drivers are not paying any fee towards the maintenance of the park and the equipment used at the parking area.
The officer in charge of the Sahel countries, Mr. Songu, in an earlier interview said the fees are to help maintain the park and to keep it useful for a long time.
According to him, the amount being charged by the Ghanaian officials is the lowest in the sub-region.
He hinted that the amount is supposed to be part of the charges to be paid by the owners of the goods they are transporting and not to be paid by the drivers from their personal incomes.
FROM Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Paga border