30% transport fare hike still on the table, talks resume Tuesday – GPRTU

The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has rejected claims by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) that its proposed 30% increase in transport fares has been put on hold. The union says no agreement has been reached with government to suspend the proposed adjustment, insisting that negotiations with the Ministry of Transport remain inconclusive. Speaking on Joynews, deputy Public Relations Officer of the GPRTU, Samuel Amoah, said the two sides were still negotiating the proposed increase at their last meeting on Friday, September 18. “There has never been any agreement with the government that we are suspending our proposed increment. The last meeting we had with the minister was last Friday, and we were still negotiating the 30 percent increase, but there wasn’t any conclusion,” he said.

His comments contradict an earlier position by NPA Chief Executive, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, who said engagements with transport operators had helped put the planned fare increase “on ice. ” Mr Tamakloe said government and transport operators had been discussing how to manage the impact of rising fuel prices and other operating costs without immediately passing the full burden on to commuters. Mr Amoah said the GPRTU remains committed to its proposed 30% adjustment, although the union is prepared to negotiate. He said the union had indicated during Friday’s meeting that any reduction from the proposed 30% would not take the figure below 25%. “We are pushing for 30% increment. That is what was on the table at the last Friday negotiation. And we made the ministry understand that if we have to come down, we still come anything less than 25%. And that is where we ended it,” he said. The GPRTU had earlier submitted a proposal for a fare review to the Ministry of Transport, with a…