Begoro cooperative drivers oppose toll payment for unfair treatment

Otuo-Serebuor Kwadwo Bannor is chairman of the Begoro Central Co-Operative Transport Society

Members of the Begoro Central Co-Operative Transport Society Limited have decided not to pay statutory tolls at the Fanteakwa North District Assembly. Drivers working on the Begoro Main Transport System claim their actions are a result of unfair treatment by members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).

At a press conference held in Begoro, the Chairman of the Corporation, Otuo-Serebuor Kwadwo Bannor, outlined a number of reasons behind their actions.

According to the President, their members are being deprived of the necessary income due to them because of the actions of GPRTU members who direct commercial vehicles heading to their station to the GPRTU garage.

Otuo-Serebuor said the situation resulted in physical clashes between the two parties and loss of income for their drivers, hence their inability to meet their financial obligations to the local Assembly.

As part of efforts to break the deadlock, a court in Begoro has ruled that a loading system be instituted by the Fanteakwa North District Assembly for transport unions. A subsequent decision also ordered that a separate station be established at Obooho station for the cooperative drivers.

However, these efforts failed to resolve the issues, a situation which the President attributes to the reluctance of the taxi branch’s GPRTU chairman to honor invitations for an amicable settlement of the matter.

The president is therefore urging the local assembly to use its powers to establish what he calls a fair loading system for taxis at the station or separate the unions to ensure peace.

Otuo-Serebuor, in a press interview after the press conference, decried the failure of the assembly to enforce the law.

“The last six years have been full of confrontations and turmoil with the court ruling that the assembly took steps to resolve the problems by alternating the loading of vehicles between the GPRTU and the cooperative,” the president said.

Despite assurances from the DCE regarding the area to ensure the station would be split, this has not been implemented in the last six years.

The situation, he said, has resulted in total chaos and disorder in the transportation space. The vice-president of the Central Transport Cooperative Society of Begoro, who goes by the name Pinocchio, said the situation not only affects drivers and unions, but also passengers.

Another driver said the situation was affecting his wealth and his job. He said: “Drivers are suffering from the situation, passengers are not coming here because of the disorder and drivers are charging anywhere. »

The group marched to the Fanteakwa North District Assembly premises, where they delivered a petition addressed to the DCE.

Meanwhile, Begoro District Assembly Deputy Director Sofina Saddiq, who received the petition on behalf of the DCE, promised to hand it over to him for necessary action.

He, however, called on the drivers to reconsider the two-week ultimatum given to the Assembly to enable it adequately address the issues raised.