Transporters who haulage goods ranging from consumables to non-consumables on a transit to neighbouring West African countries have accused officials of the Ghana Highway Authority for shortchanging them.
They say the GHA at Tadieso/Techiman in the Bono East Region of manipulate the axle weight machine to fine them for overloading after being cleared of overloading from point of origin in Tema through out the various axle weighing points.
The Transporters lament they fine them from GH₵200 to GH₵5,000 for overloading at the Tadieso/Techiman axle weighing point which surprises them and they believe, the axle weighing machines are being tempered with to make them pay.
According to one of the leaders of the Transporters, Alhaji Osman Mohammed Awini, it is only the Tadieso/Techiman weighing point that always overscale their vehicles.
“We dont understand this, right from Tema through Nsawam to Kumasi and the north on a single transit by a vehicle is cleared of overloading but that same vehicle is fined at the Tadieso/Techiman weighing point. Are the officials at that place telling us that, those machines at the various weighing points are faulty or the officials over there do not know their jobs?,” he asked.
He continued “this behaviour of the Highway Authority officials at the Techiman axle load point is affecting our business and we called on the national security to intervene, else, our transpòt business will collapse.”
The secretary of the Ghana Onion Drivers Association, Asuma Awudu, who also spoke to our reporter via phone call, expressed his raging anger on the situation transporters encounter at the same weighing point in the Bono East Region.
“Imagine a particular Haulage driver fined an amount of GH₵5,000 for overloading Tadieso/Techiman when that same driver was scaled and cleared at all the axle weighing points without paying anything. This situation is discouraging our members from transporting through this route and is not good for Ghana in this economic challenges when businesses along the Haulage chain is struggling to survive,” he lamented.
Documents of some of the vehicles which were cleared without paying any fine from Tema motorway axle load weighing and Doboro, Accra Nsawam points but were fined at Tadieso/Techiman axle load weighing point are;
Vehicle with registration number AS 4653 U carrying metals from Tema to Niger on transit on September 9, 2022 was fined an amount of GH₵200.
Another vehicle with registration number AW 988-11 was also fined GH₵5,000 for overloading and that, the axle machine did not detect one of the six axles and that vehicle was carrying iron rods to Mali from Tema.
When asked by our reporter if is possible for an additional weight to be added to the no overloading vehicles after being cleared in Tema, Accra and Kumasi, this is what the leader of the transporters, Alhaji Osman Mohammed Awini said;
“No is not possible because the vehicles are always monitored and tracked and even at point of accident, Customs division will have to visit their scene before any other procedures so is not possible at all that some weight can be added after leaving all these axle weighing points, so why weighing us overloading,” he explained.
These and many vehicles are being fined at Tadieso/Techiman on a daily basis according to the aggrieved Ghanaian transporters and they are calling on the National Security and the Ministry of Transport to intervene.
By Mohammed Rabiu Tanko|N/R|Onuaonline.com
