REDUCE PRICES OF YUTUNG BUSES — NUHU (PAGE 35, OCT 4, 2010)

THE Upper West Regional Industrial Relations Officer (IRO) of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, Mr Mahama Nuhu, has observed that the prices of the Yutong buses being imported into the country are too high.
Accordingly, he has appealed to the importers to reduce the prices, particularly the deposits being paid by transport owners, scares potential transporters.
“If deposits are too high, potential transporters cannot afford them. Monthly instalments of GH¢8,000 cannot be met and something must be done about the situation. Even with the old buses, we are finding it difficult to meet our financial commitment to our banks,” he added.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Wa, Mr Nuhu said the prices of the buses had now doubled compared to the prices of the previous ones.
He stated that if the targets of GH¢8,000 were to be met, accidents were likely to occur on the roads since some vehicle owners would put pressure on their drivers to overwork themselves.
“Apart from accidents, the lifespan of the vehicles would be reduced, which would in the long run affect the ‘sales’ of the transport owners,” Mr Nuhu said.
He, therefore, appealed to the government and the Northern Parliamentary Caucus to intervene to ensure that more buses were made available to transporters.
On the situation in the Upper West, he observed that the reduction in prices of the buses would enable transporters to go in for more 20–seater buses for short distances in the region.
Mr Nuhu said those smaller buses would serve the good purpose of conveying students of the Wa Campus of the University for Development Studies and the Wa Polytechnic who rely on a few mini-buses to various destinations.
He expressed the hope that the issue would receive the needed attention in order to “save us from our present predicament”.