Commercial drivers have given government, Koajay Company Limited and other stakeholders, a 14-day ultimatum to revamp the Achimota Bus Terminal.
According to the drivers, the absence of markets, business centres and houses to facilitate passenger accessibility to the terminal had resulted in low patronage of their services.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, the chairman of the drivers welfare association, Abubakah Salifu, explained that due to the location of the terminal, passengers preferred to board vehicles at the roadside.
He said the more than 800-bus capacity terminal, which was inaugurated in 2009, now operates at a capacity less than 200 with its facilities such as passenger sheds, canteens, public washrooms, car parks, clinic and a police station lying waste.
“As part of measures to save our business and keep the terminal active, we made vehicles available to bring passengers free of charge to the bus terminal, but passengers still refuse to come here,” Mr Salifu lamented.
He said the association together with the company formed a task force to check recalcitrant and floating drivers, to raise the image and patronage of the terminal.
Mr Salifu said “the task force, after a few months of working began chasing and arresting supposedly offending drivers or collected GH¢30.00 each from every driver who loaded vehicle at the Apenkwa over head, and allowed them to work the whole day with no fear of arrest”.
He also mentioned that the lack of adequate security personal at the terminal, had led to the stealing of vehicle batteries and other parts.
Mr Salifu said the toilet at the terminal had become a hideout for alcohol and illegal drug peddlers.
General Manager of Koajay Company Limited, Philemon Baidoo, in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, said his outfit acknowledged the challenges confronting the terminal, and said measures would be put in place to revamp the facility.
Touching on some of the allegations levelled against the company, he mentioned that the association said that it was autonomous and the company was there to manage and protect the terminal and the assets belonged to the various unions at the terminal.
“Therefore, if your own mates and drivers are robbing themselves, you don’t call the company to attend to you,” Mr Baidoo said, adding insecurity situations at the terminal, were reported to the police.
He said it was the hope of his outfit to work in harmony with the drivers to boost the fortunes of the terminal.
BY JEMIMA ESINAM KUATSINU
