The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has threatened that road fares will be increased if fuel and spare parts prices keep soaring.
This comes at a time when the national road safety authority has announced the introduction of road tow levies to be paid by vehicle owners.
Speaking to Francis Abban on Morning Starr Wednesday, the Director for Planning and Programs at the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Mr Kwame Adonten said drivers would have to bear this new cost when they are going for Road Worthy Renewal at the Driver and Vehicle License Authority (DVLA).
According to him, new car owners would also pay when they are going for Road Worthy Registration adding that the Commission is considering the new payment to be between 5ghc to 150ghc depending on the type of car.
“This is to deal with cars that get broken down on our roads, sometimes for days thereby causing accidents. So the plan is to remove the risk. You are paying for the removal of the risk. Currently, only those whose vehicles break down are targeted. But it does not make economic sense.
But the national communications officer of GPRTU Abass Morro Mohammed appealed to the government to remove some tariffs to help the transport industry.
He said “although spare parts have also gone up by roughly 10 percent or a little more, we are currently facing the frequent fuel price increment which has made our work very difficult hence we came up with some suggestions that some margins on levies and some taxes should be taken out to have a breathing space’’
He added that, if the government fails to respond to their request, they will be forced to raise transportation fares.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/103.5fm/Juliet Nyarko