'New transport fares yet to be approved'
The Ghana Road Transport Co-ordinating Council (GTRCC) has denied releasing new lorry fares.
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It has, therefore, described fare increases being charged by some commercial drivers as illegal.
Some drivers in the Accra metropolis have, since yesterday, increased their fares by between 15 and 20 per cent.
But the GTRCC says those drivers are doing a disservice to the public.
Meanwhile, the council has stated that it has reviewed lorry fares upwards.
The new fares will take effect from September 14, 2013.
Some commuters paid the illegal fares yesterday when they joined commercial buses to and from their various destinations.
Commuters at Adenta who were heading for Accra and the Kwame Nkrumah Circle had to pay almost GH¢1.50 each, instead of GH¢1.20.
Drivers plying the Tema Station-Abeka Lapaz route are charging GH¢1, instead of 80Gp, while passengers travelling from the Tema Station to Kaneshie now pay 80Gp instead of 65Gp.
Some commuters the Daily Graphic randomly spoke to said they had not heard about the increment in lorry fares, while others said they were yet to come to terms with the new fares.
At the Odawna Station at Circle, the situation was not different, as fares had been increased.
However, the General Secretary of the GTRCC and Chairman of the Transport Fare Committee, Alhaji Aliyu Baba, said even though the committee had decided on new fares, they had not been approved by the executives of the GTRCC, which is the apex body of all transport unions and associations in the country.
He explained that the new fares were arrived at based on several factors, including research by a consultant who studied other variables and components of the commercial running of a vehicle.
However, the intended increases were to take effect from September 14, 2013, Alhaji Baba said.
He said executives were about to release a statement announcing the increases, which would be between 15 and 20 per cent, when news filtered in that drivers had already increased fares.
He said the GTRCC would ensure that drivers would charge the approved fares when they were announced.
By Caroline Boateng & Salomey Appiah/Daily Graphic/Ghana
