Aayalolo bus needs about GH¢500, 000 to come back to life – Deputy Transport Minister
Government needs close to GHS500,000 to revamp the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Accra, a deputy minister has noted.
Apart from this, Aayalolo, as the system is popularly known, will need 40,000 litres of fuel to begin operations, the Deputy Minister of Transport revealed.
Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover made the revelations in an interview with Onua FM’s Yen Sempa hosted by Bright Kwasi Asempa on Wednesday.
He explained that “there is huge challenge and we need to designate lanes because all over the world, such buses have designated lanes but in Ghana, it is not like that”.
The Member of Parliament for Tema East Constituency said “[Ayalolo Buses] compete with trotro because the money for the lanes were not used to construct the lanes, except few places that were done”.
“How can it compete with trotro because they use time?” he wondered.
Mr. Titus-Glover noted that due to the nature of the challenges, the buses were not making profit “so they resorted to borrowing to purchase fuel because it was new and was not making profit”.
The MP added that “when you look at the running cost and the fact that it does not have the running capital, it affected the operations so we are looking at it and take it away from the current management”.
“We need close to about 500,000 Ghana Cedis to start because we owe the drivers. We need 40,000 litres of fuel to start the running and even if we have to bring in private investors, we will do it,” he explained.
Expansion
The Deputy Minister revealed that currently, Aayalolo is being managed by the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE), but the government is looking at changing the management and making it more nationalistic.
He said with the current management, headed by the Mayor of Accra, the buses were stationed in only parts of Accra “but we have sent some to Kumasi, Cape Coast and Takoradi because it is meant for the regional capitals”.
“We are looking at the entire Ayalolo structure and if we need a private person to bring in money, we shall do it.”
Mr. Titus-Glover promised that the government will revamp the bus system for effective transport services in the country.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|3news.com|Ghana