A former Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Andrew Appiah-Kubi has blamed the transportation challenges facing residents of Accra on the non-availability of other means of transportation apart from road.
He said it has become imperative for other means such as rail transport to be added.
“Let’s increase the mix. all over the world, there are options, railway, water etc,” he said on TV3’s The KeyPoints while contributing to discussions on the challenges faced by commuters.
Contributing to the same discussion, a finance lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof Godfred Bokpin has bemoaned the challenges faced by residents of Accra in securing transport to and from work.
According to him, the situation has resulted from lack of planning and forecast.
He noted that this is a bad reflection on the country’s leaders.
“Any serious country should not take its citizens through this,” he stressed.
According to him, Ghanaians deserve apology from successive governments for not putting in place an efficient urban transportation system 68 years after Independence from Colonial rule.
“We should be apologising to Ghanaians. 68 years after independence, we cannot provide an efficient urban transport system,” he said on the KeyPoints on TV3 on January 17.
Prof Bokpin and noted that the difficulties being faced by residents of Accra in securing transport to and from work is due to lack of planning by the city authorities.
According to him, the problem has persisted over the years and is now reaching crisis levels.
“This has been happening over the years. It is now reaching crisis levels. And it is due to lack of planning and forecast by the authorities,” he stated.
Describing the situation as “unfortunate”, Prof Bokpin attributed the situation partly to rural urban migration and over dependence on road transport.
He also cited the poor transportation system in the country for the high cost of food in the cities.
“The high cost of food in Accra and other cities is due to transport challenges,” he noted
On January 14, 3news’Christian Yalley spent time with commuters during the rush hour.
He reports from the 37 Military Hospital transport terminal that many commuters were stranded as there were not enough commercial vehicles to transport them to their destinations.
This is despite the assurance from the Minister of Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe that Metro Mass Transit busses will be deployed to ease the sufferings of commuters during the rush hour.
Christian Yalley reports that it was frustration as usual. Please read on.
“So I am coming to you live from the 37 lorry station here. It is actually a chaotic situation, but I should say that it’s even reduced a bit when you look at the numbers now. In the afternoon, there were a lot of queues around and when you ask many of them, they’ll have to be here from two hours 30 minutes to three hours before they are able to get vehicles to commute back home.
For how long have you been here trying to get a car to go home? He asked a commuter.
“It’s very very frustrating after working hard for the day, you come here and stand here for sometimes one hour, two hours before getting car to go home, it’s so frustrating so we’ll be very happy if government can supply more cars for the commuting,” the commuter bemoaned.
So usually, when the cars arrive like this, a lot of people are in a hurry to get into the bus although there is a queue many would want to engage in what you call crisscrossing or trespassing to be able to get inside. This is the actual frustration that people have to go through on a daily basis before they get back home after a stressful day.
Another commuter had this to say:
“It’s not easy. I lost my phone through this mess. And I’m just appealing for the government if he can intervene for us, we’ll be very happy for that.” Another commuter lamented.
Benjamin lost his phone through this and usually when it happens like this and especially when you go to the bus terminals along the roadside, you realize that all manner of people gather there. So, when you are unlucky or you don’t take extra caution, you lose your valuables in the process. So, you see a lot of people who have all gathered here waiting for their turn.
I asked a driver about government’s proposal to bring a lot of buses from Metro Mass Transit to augment their business. But he’s of the view that that is not going to help much because it will affect their business.
I am Christian Yalley, I have been coming to you with a team from the 37 Lorry Station.
It remains to be seen whether the Transport Minister’s promise will be fulfilled.
It also remains to be seen whther that will resolve the daily hustle of commuters in Accra.
