According to him, the new management has turned around the fortunes of the company and increased its profit margins, and is not involved in any malfeasance as alleged by workers.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IJOiwcEVxawHlokrUdnjcmjPOuU5NTwD”]The workers of the company on Wednesday left many passengers stranded at the Kumasi depot, as they refused to work in protest of what said were poor working conditions and the management’s inability to fix challenges the company has been grappling with.

They expressed disgust that the new board’s decision to purchase a new vehicle for the Managing Director when about 100 buses of the company needed urgent repair.

But Ahmed Arthur in an interview on Eyewitness News said the board is considering purchasing a vehicle for the company’s Deputy Managing Director but had not authorized the purchase yet.

He noted that although the board deemed it necessary because the deputy director was using his personal vehicle, it intended to purchase it later.

“We now have two deputy MDs. Hitherto we had one deputy, and the two deputies means that now we have to get a vehicle for one of the deputies. It was necessary that we got one of the deputies a new car, but when we had a management meeting, we agreed that an arrangement is made to purchase one for the deputy later…We haven’t bought any car for the MD,” he said.

He noted that the company had significantly increased its daily income since the new management took over, contrary to claims by the workers.

“The fortunes of the company were dwindling before he [the managing director] came in. He came here only 4 months ago so you cannot claim that he is the one who has presided over the dwindling of the fortunes of the company. It is not right,” he said.

“For the past two months, the fortune of the company is beginning to appreciate. We used to make 130,000 cedis a day, now we are making 230,000 and so there is a turnaround for the company,” he added.

Ahmed Arthur expressed shock with the stance of the workers, noting that he took the decision to retain them at the company although its capacity had reduced and there was the need for some to “shed some weight.”

He denied that his outfit was paying the workers although they were redundant, due to reduced operational capacity, noting that the company had plans to purchase some more buses to boost its operations and the workers will be needed to man the new buses.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post MMT Board Chair denies workers’ allegations of wrongdoing appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta who revealed this in Parliament on Monday said in all 200 of the buses will operate on compress natural gas while the 600 others will operate on diesel.

[contextly_sidebar id=”fwmFd6ggYpKUKp1oPlfYtyl8ucMlghco”]“…As part of Government’s effort to improve public mass transportation, the Ministry initiated processes for the acquisition of buses for the two Public Bus Companies. The objective is to improve the current bus fleet of Metro Mass and Inter-City State Transport Corporation (ISCT).”

“In all a total of 800 buses will be acquired. These include 200 Compress Natural Gas (CNG) and 500 diesel buses for the Metro Mass Transit and the remaining 100 diesel buses for ISTC,” he added.

Mr. Ofori-Attah made the promise when he delivered the mid-year budget review in Parliament on Monday.

This comes on the back of complaints by both companies of lack of buses.

The State Transport Company earlier said it was looking to acquire some buses idling under the Quality Bus System (QBS) system, popularly known as Aayalolo, to augment its fleet.

The Managing Director of STC, Nana Akomea explained that his outfit needed a minimum fleet strength of 150 buses but currently has less than 50.

“Despite slight difference in the configuration, it will be possible for us to look at some of them and see which of them can be deployed for the short haul… It is a matter of rethinking how to redeploy the buses that are sitting idle,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Gov’t to purchase 800 new buses for MMT, STC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Commenting on the reports on Eyewitness News, Mr. Adams said: “it is a diversion from the blackout we are suffering, it is a diversion from confusion, a diversion from a government that doesn’t know its left from right.”

“This publication is just a publication of diversion. It has no basis, it has no foundation and that is why Metro Mass itself will never come out to tell you such a thing. They know very well about the communication that has happened between them and the National Democratic Congress.”

According to the Daily Guide newspaper, the NDC reportedly owes Metro Mass Transit Limited close to GHc2 million, for renting buses during the campaign period in 2016.

A pro forma invoice issued to the NDC after it lost the 2016 elections, showed that they owed the transport company a total of GHc 1.921,896.99, and the paper said the invoice was sent to the party’s headquarters to be acted on.

Mr. Adams acknowledged the dealings with Metro Mass, but the NDC was still awaiting an invoice for about GHc 410,000 after a written request to the state transport company.

“They are yet to present us with the details of what exactly they did so we know the actual cost and then payment will be done… They are to do the necessary calculations, submit a detailed itemized bill and then we will see how much they need to be paid. We have been waiting for that to happen and once it happens, the matter will be dealt with,” he explained.

The arrangement with Metro Mass saw saw the transport company convey persons to vantage points in the various constituencies on a fare basis under a Ghana Decides project from December 1 to December 7 in 2016, according to Mr. Adams.

He maintained that “they [Metro Mass] haven’t brought us the details, they just brought a number; but we never sat and agreed on any number of buses so we need an itemized list of the moments that happened.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NDC Metro Mass debt reports a diversionary tactic – Kofi Adams appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.