Paga (U/E), April 12, GNA – The Kassena Nankana West District Assembly in the Upper East Region is gearing up to clamp trucks of recalcitrant long-distance drivers who park on the sides of the road at the Paga Border.
The move is to ease congestion at the border.
Mr Gerard Ataogye, the District Chief Executive (DCE) said some empty tankers and articulator trucks from Mali and Burkina Faso resorted to parking on the sides of the road and Filing Stations near the border instead of proceeding on their journey.
The act, according to the DCE, created congestion and obstructed the free flow of traffic at the border, and said the District Security Council (DISCE) would soon take action to clear the trucks on the road.
Mr Ataogye said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the Agency visited the Paga Border to assess the usage of the newly constructed 30,000 square metre Transit Truck Park and observed that several trucks including tankers and articulators were parked by the road and filing stations.
He said the Transit Truck Park was well patronized by drivers and explained that “Those parked along the road are the empty ones. The problem is that, Mali and Burkina truck drivers are on strike, so the movement is very slow.
“The empty trucks from Burkina are supposed to proceed, they do not have to enter the Park but the recalcitrant drivers park on the sides of the road. We met the leaders and told them about our intended action, because we don’t want a situation where we start to clamp the trucks and they say they are unaware,” he said.
Some long-distance drivers at the transit park who expressed their frustration about the Park to the GNA, said even though the truck park was good, and afforded them a place to rest and continue their journey, the prices charged at the facility for parking were not stable.
Mr Isaac Oduro, a long-distance driver, said they were charged Gh¢60.00, which according to him was okay, but noted that “The challenge we have is that the price is not stable. When I travel all the way from Tema to this place, I am given Gh¢60.00 to pay for my stay on the park, but the officials keep changing the prices.
“This affects us, because our expenses are usually calculated and the monies given to us. So, we want to plead with the Authorities to give us a stable price so that we don’t have to spend extra days here because of charges,” he said.
Another Driver, Mr Salifu Amosila, who expressed the same concerns, added that, the agents at the facility usually delayed them under the pretext of processing their documents, and made them stay at the park for days.
He alleged that when owners of the goods they transported transferred monies to agents to process their documents, the agents allegedly invest the monies awaiting interest to accrue while they stayed at the park for days.
“So, we plead with the agents to desist from that act and quickly process our documents so we continue our journey anytime we find ourselves here,” Mr Amosila said.
GNA