The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), a consumer advocacy group in the Republic of Ghana, is calling on the government to provide subsidies to public transport operators to cushion them against the impact of reduction in number of passengers due to the adherence of the Covid-19 social distancing protocol.
The Akufo-Addo-administration, as part of measures to curb the spread of the spread of the novel Coronavirus, directed public operators in Ghana to reduce the number of passengers.
Commercial drivers in the West African nation heeded to the President’s directive and have since enforced it.
Interestingly, the President later announced a GHc600 million incentive package to cushion small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) due to the impact of the Covid-19.
Unfortunately, public transport drivers seem to have been given a raw deal as the government has not shown any sign of giving them relief.
The development, coupled with recent increment in fuel prices, has angered drivers with some taxis operating in Ashaiman and Tema, both towns in the Greater Accra Region, already increasing their fares.
Addressing a press conference in Kumasi on Sunday, July 5, 2020, National Concerned Drivers’ Association and True Drivers’ Union threatened to announce a 30 percent increment in fares to help their members recover from losses.
In a statement issued by the Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah complained about the negative effects the coronavirus has had on commercial drivers.
According to COPEC, the revenue made by drivers has decreased by between 25 percent to 40 percent in recent times.
“The social distancing, coupled with recent increases in fuel prices at the pumps by as much as over 16 percent due largely to international market price increases and the depreciation of the local currency, seems to have brought a lot of hardships on these public transport operators and other petroleum consumers across the country,” the statement read.
“The commercial and public transport operators further indicate there’s been a further increase in the cost of spare parts due to the cedi’s depreciation and as such, general increases in their input costs while their revenues have considerably dipped due to the enforcement of the social distancing directive,” it added.
In that regard, Mr Amoah insisted the government must put in mitigation measures aimed at helping the transport operators.
One of the ways he suggested to deal with the situation is the “introduction of a chit or coupon subsidy programme strictly for commercial transport operators.
“The Central Government can, per this, introduce a chit or a coupon system to be administered by
the various transport unions for their memberships such that the various fuel stations will be reimbursed the difference between the agreed subsidy or percentage reduction on the fuel purchases by these public transport operators,” the statement said.
He also recommended an upfront cash disbursement to the registered public transport operators or driver unions “to cushion their fuel purchases during this period of social distancing in the various buses and cars.”
COPEC says these measures, when put in place, will go a long way to ease the financial burden on the drivers and “will be a good incentive for them to continue adhering to the social distancing protocols while curtailing the harsh effects of these significant increases in transport fares on the general commuting public.”