Haulage truck drivers who participated in the maiden edition of the Ghana Shippers Authority’s sensitization workshop are unhappy over a myriad of challenges they face in carting their cargo across the country.
Apart from their frustration over load discrepancies at the various axle load points which causes undue delay resulting in the payment of unlawful fees and penalties, poor and deplorable road networks such as the Takoradi Agona Nkwanta Road and various rumps mounted especially on the Takoradi through Fosu road also affected the transportation of cargoes to and from their final destinations and take off points.
Some of the drivers were also worried about the many MTTD check points on the Kumasi/Tamale road.
The workshop which drew resource persons from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the National Road Safety Authority, the Motor Traffic and Transport Department of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Highways Authority was also for GSA to collaborate with stakeholders in the Trade and Transport Ministry to find solutions to challenges and to bring world-best practices to the Shipping Industry in the country in order to make it very efficient and competitive.
The resource persons took the drivers and their car owners on their responsibilities on the road until they reached their final destination.
The Workshop according was to project the measures introduced by Customs Division of the GRA to curtail especially the upsurge in the diversion of transit cargo. The CEO said, haulage truck drivers were critical in the transport logistics chain and that much effort must be committed in fully equipping them on international conventions, national and regional regulations, directives and measures in their area of operations to improve compliance.
The Shippers Authority’s fact finding missions along the major transit corridor had revealed serious infractions on road traffic regulations, police harassment, malpractices at the Axle Load stations among others.
“on the road between Tema and Paga, we are counting about sixty- four (64) barriers, what it means is that, if a truck driver with a container is going to Ouagadougou, he would have to stop 64 times and at each point there would be a security operative asking either for document which extends transit time” Fred Asiedu – Dartey, Head of Freight and Logistics at the Ghana Shippers Authority told Empire FM’S Nana Adjoa Entsuah-Hagan. He added that “truck drivers are given ten (10) days to exit the country once you are loaded and set off, so if you delay, there is a penalty.”
On the extortion of monies from the truck drivers, Mr. Asiedu – Dartey indicated that “ ….we found out from the fact finding mission I mean that that monies ranging between 1 Cedi to 500 Cedis are collected from the drivers at each of these points” .
Asked whether the drivers can equally take the blame for the alleged Police extortions by not driving with the required documents, he answered that it was not always the case saying “ we have found instances like that and that is part of the reason we are organizing this because on the driver side we want to make sure that everything is correct and once those things are done right then we expect that the security operatives would also be professional so then we balance it nicely”.
He further lauded the recent reforms announced the Police to ensure sanity at such Police check points as well as an opportunity for people to report misconduct of some police personnel.
He also hinted on moves to push for a reduction in some of the many check points and an improvement in the quality of roads to speed up the transportation of cargo from Ghana to other countries on time and vice- versa.
Mrs. Benonita Bismarck, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority in a speech read on her behalf noted that “Ghana’s quest to become the preferred transit country and consequently become the gateway to the West African Sub-Region requires that we must all be committed to contributing our quota to finding solutions to the plethora of challenges affecting the Transit trade”.
Mr. Darling Sey, the Western Regional Branch Manager of the Shippers Authority said the engagement was first of its kind leading to the implementation of their institutional mandate of protecting and promoting the interests of the shippers. He said the Authority would continue to offer the best of services to shippers along the logistics value chain.
Nana AkuaAnsaah, Western Region Manager of Ghana Road Safety Commission pointed out that 60% of accidents which occurred are people in their productive age and 70% of them are also men who are bread winners of their families “Accidents, usually occurs between 6-8pm; expired car tyres, over taken, weather conditions, poor visibility, excessive alcohol in-take are some of the causes of road accidents” she mentioned.
She further noted that some haulage drivers park haphazardly, especially when the vehicle is faulty; “put signage or warning triangles to reflect that the vehicle has broken down, do not use branches of trees as reflectors when the vehicle develops a fault”.
“Learn more about your car, concentrate, be observant, drive defensively and tolerate each other on the road to ensure safety of all”, she said.
Emmanuel Yaw Tettey, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, encouraged the haulage drivers to endorse all their documents before they set off for their journey.
“No custom officer will bother you if you have proper documentation; report to the police and the nearest customs office if you have challenges on your way, comply with all the regulations to have a smooth journey to your destination.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Nana Adwoa Hagan/103.5FM