GPRTU to increase fares by 30%

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The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has asked Ghanaians to brace themselves up for a 30% increment in transport fares next week Friday, May 13, 2022. Industrial Relations Officer for GPRTU, Abass Imoro, explained that the decision taken by the union is to cushion them [transport operators] amidst the increase in the price of petroleum products at various pumps.

He further stated that government did not hearken to the union’s advice to scrap taxes on some petroleum products to cushion both drivers and commuters in these economic challenging times. Speaking in an interview with Citi News, Abass Imoro, noted that several attempts to reach the Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, to relay their concerns proved futile, hence, the stance taken by the union to increase transport fares. “We have been forced to make a decision. We were thinking of being sympathetic.

We never wanted to take this decision, but government has not cooperated with us. Fuel prices keep shooting up, we wrote to the Transport Minister about our plans to increase transport fares, but we received no feedback. We are thus going to take a decision that will help us as well,” he said. “We will announce the new prices by next Friday,” the Industrial Relations Officer for GPRTU added. It would be recalled that the GPRTU and other transport unions increased fares by 15% in February this year. At the time of the increment, fuel [Petrol and Diesel] were selling at GH¢6.4 per litre at various pumps. Currently, petrol and diesel sell around GH¢10.