By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Public transport drivers that ply the Ofankor to Nsawam Highways have resorted to taking advantage of the slow pace of work being done on the road.
The drivers who ply the road complain of how the slow pace of road development is contributing to the breakdown of their vehicles. They say the rate at which the contractors and architects have left the road deplorable in the name of rehabilitation is really costing them their daily sales.
Speaking to Kwame, a driver who plies the road on a daily basis, said the only way they can recoup the money they spend weekly on maintenance and repairs is to increase the fares or do short distances. He added that they are aware passengers complain, but as it stands now, they have no option. The only way out, according to him, is when the road is completed and ready to use.
“Boss, every week majority of the drivers who use this road visit the shop to either change something or get something in the car fixed. The only way we can get our money back is to do what we are doing. We are not happy when we hear passengers complain about the fares they pay.”
In a bid to salvage the money they spend weekly on the repairs and maintenance of their vehicles, these drivers have resorted to just doing short distances, which costs passengers more than they spend on transportation. This advantage-taking nature of the drivers has become the norm, and passengers have nothing to do about it but succumb.
“One can only complain and shout at the apex of their voices but the situation remains the same until the rehabilitation of the road is quickened and opened to motorists. I think that can be the only end to these irrational acts of these drivers,” one passenger said.
An early morning trip from Nsawam to the capital shows how stranded commuters are at the various bus stops.
Drivers, upon seeing how desperate passengers are to get to their destinations, either do short trips at higher fares or a straight journey at a much higher fare than usual. With jobs at stake, one will have no option but to succumb and do the short trips or pay the higher fares being charged.
This is gradually eating into the expenses of citizens who are in this situation. A call or plea to the government to quicken up the rate at which road rehabilitation is the only way out now lest people lose their jobs and savings on transportation at the expense of current unstable economic trends in the country.
