The MCE for Savelugu Municpal Assembly in the Northern Region, Hajia Ayishatu Seidu, has procured mini busses to serve as a means of transportation for passengers from Savelugu to Tamale.
This was necessitated after taxi drivers who operate between Savelugu and Tamale refused to reduce transport fares which they had increased from 7cedis to 10cedis. The MCE believes the increment was too high and that the drivers were not concerned about the plight of passengers.
In an interview on Citi Eyewitness News, “The issue is that we not concerned about the plight of our people. The taxi fare has been 7cedis before the increase in fares. So it was for them to have taken Gh8.05 pessewas. You and I know, 0.05 is insignificant so we were expecting them to take 8cedis.
Hajia Ayishatu added added that “As you all know we have a 15 percent increment in fares, unfortunately they have decided to increase the fares above 30 something percent and we thought that was not good enough and we needed to engage them to move forward. I called them to a meeting and we had a lengthy chat on it and tried to build a certain consensus, that is the leadership of the GPRTU and the Taxi drivers. They said they would get back to us but they have gone ahead to charge 10cedis.
After pressure from the residents in Savelugu, Hajia Ayishatu had to take the Municipal bus, the school bus for Savelugu Senior High and another to transport passengers from Savelugu to Tamale at a cheaper cost compared to what the original price was before recent increment.
“We took busses from the Assemble and we has a bus from Savelugu Senior High School and VETCO, Vetinary Carriage” the MCE said.
In response to this happening on Citi Fm, the Secretary to the Savelugu-Tamale Taxi Drivers, Mr. ‘Andani’ Usman, termed the action by the MCE as forceful even though they noticed some inconsistencies in what was handed over to them from the GPRTU.
