{"id":186057,"date":"2016-02-01T06:35:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T06:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=186057"},"modified":"2016-02-01T06:35:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T06:35:24","slug":"new-fares-transport-operators-betrayed-us-npa-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/02\/new-fares-transport-operators-betrayed-us-npa-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"New fares: Transport operators betrayed us \u2013 NPA boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Moses Asaga, is accusing transport unions of acting in bad faith, by side-stepping their negotiation plan to announce new fares.<\/p>\n

Mr Asaga told Citi News<\/strong> he was shocked by the announcement because there was a planned meeting on Monday to finalise their negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it\u2019s a betrayal, when three parties are having a negotiation and we haven\u2019t come to any conclusion and we have agreed that on Monday there is going to be a meeting and you suddenly jump up to go and announce new prices, especially when we know that this is even coinciding with diesel prices going down by 4 to 5 percent,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”RP9UX7Zhe6o0DO3S62U0s0VnuIKv9cwM”]Transport operators in the country on Sunday increased fares by 15 percent<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The announcement was made by the Acting General Secretary of the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC), Andrews Kwesi Kwakye who said they were even considerate on the 15 percent.<\/p>\n

He explained that they considered factors affecting transport operators before making a final determination on the matter.<\/p>\n

He gave some of the reasons that warranted the increment to be \u201cspare parts and maintenance, fixed cost, licensing, charges, levies and tolls and the almighty fuel. Though the first review for this half year begun late, we have concluded our review and the transport operators have decided to raise fares with effect from first February 2016 by 15 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe increase is below the rate of inflation. Based on the analysis of the transport operator technical team, transport fares should have risen by 18 to 20 percent. The Transport operators have made this decision with sensitivity by the call made by the public, our customers and organized labour for moderation in the raising of the prices of critical services,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Transport fare hike unfair<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Chief Executive of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi, had earlier insisted that it will be unfair for transport fares to go up<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Mr. Hosi had argued that \u201cthe exchange rate at the last time when prices were revised upwards using the BoG rate was 4.2810. The same BoG rate, which is the bench mark for these discussions, is at 3.810, meaning the exchange rate itself is lower than it was at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

This he said would make it unfair on the consumers if transport fares are increased.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Godwin A.\u00a0 Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n

Follow @AlloteyGodwin<\/a>
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