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The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has said it will increase transportation fares should government fail to reduce fuel prices.
According to the Union, its members are running at losses due to the price of fuel in the country and the government, as soon as possible, should engage them on demands for an urgent reduction in fuel prices.[ads2]
Speaking on Citi News, the General Secretary of the GPRTU, Godfred Abulbire said all efforts by the union to reduce fuel prices before the presentation of the 2022 Budget statement yielded no result.
“All the efforts we made before the reading of the budget has not yielded any result. We were told that definitely from the next pricing window fuel prices will come down but that same night, GOIL was able to come down which was an indicator that what we were requesting will be achieved. So we concluded the meeting with the hope that by the following week, GOIL will go lower. Shortly after, fuel prices started going up, and far more than we thought. It is serious. We are running at a very serious loss,” he said.[ads3]
“Two-thirds of our total income goes into fuel. People may not be able to maintain their cars and that can lead to accidents. The best option is that we have to go back, get another meeting and have the government to understand that if the first option is what they are refusing, then our option is to increase the fares by a margin that will cushion us to at least break even. All the transport operators are holding a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the way forward.”
Meanwhile, fuel prices have passed the Gh¢7 mark with projections that some pesewas could be added to it in the coming weeks.[ads5]
