The Central Business District of Techiman. INSET: Oseadeyo Akumfi Ameyaw
THE PARAMOUNT chief of Techiman, Oseadeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, has explained that his decision to ban tricycles from operating within the Central Business District (CBD) of Techiman is to decongest the city.
According to him, the exercise is not targeted at any group or persons, especially people of northern extraction, as being rumoured.
He told the Bono East Regional Minister, Akwasi Adu Gyan, during a courtesy call on him at his palace that the decision of the traditional council had been misconstrued by some people to mean that he wanted to sack the northerners from Techiman, which he said was impossible.
“No. this is not true, far from that. I was even invited and questioned by the National Security over that decision. People don’t want development. The city was congested to the extent that everything was clumsy. The entire place has been taken over by these tricycle operators popularly called pragia,” the chief explained.
He said some people in the city had made it their business to buy tricycles for graduates of junior high schools to thwart the government’s effort of educating Ghanaian children to secondary school level at no cost to their parents.
The paramount chief believes the pragia business model in Techiman has the propensity to affect the Free SHS policy, adding that “most of them don’t even join associations and operate indiscriminately without recourse to traffic regulations.”
“We are all one people. Now there is sanity in the city and Nananom are still monitoring,” he stated.
The Regional Minister, Akwasi Adu Gyan also took the opportunity to spell out his vision for the region and appealed to Nananom to support him to create jobs, in particular, for the youth in the area.
The Minister also asked the Techiman Municipal Assembly to collaborate with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to develop bye laws to regulate the use of tricycles in the city.
The Regional Minister was accompanied by the Regional Coordinating Director, George Padmore and some regional security commanders.
From Daniel Yao Dayee, Techiman