By Mohammed Balu
Tumu, (UWR), Feb. 03, GNA – Several articulator trucks have besieged the Tumu township in the Sissala East Municipality to cart grains to the southern part of the country for sale.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) had spotted dozens of articulator trucks parked at the articulator station while others at the margins of the roads waited to be loaded.
The GNA, in a visit to the articulator station at Tumu, counted 31 articulator vehicles from different parts of the country arranged to load.
Mr Yusuf Seidu Ndego, the articulator station secretary disclosed that three days ago over 20 articulators were loaded and dispatched.
Mr Ndego indicated from December 2023 up to date, more than three trucks leave Tumu to the South daily and estimated over 500 truckloads of mostly maize, Soyabean, sesame, rice have been transported to other parts of the country.
The articulator station, he said, has now helped reduce accidents in the township with the trucks now parked at designated places, which was not the case in the past, and has further decongested the main town’s traffic.
Mr Ndego said from November 2023, the revenue collected for the Sissala East Assembly increased as many articulators came in knowing that they would get loaded in Tumu.
Mr Ndego told the GNA that for every truckload of one thousand bags of 100kg, an amount of One Ghana Cedis was collected amounting to One thousand per articulator truck whilst parking at the lot attracted Twenty Ghana Cedis per truck.
The articulator business he said was booming due to the area’s high maize production.
“Just now I got a call to load four Articulators with maize to Ibadan in Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Ndego said the absence of electricity and other basic amenities such as water, urinary and toilet facilities posed a security threat to the station.
He therefore appealed to the Sissala East Municipal Assembly to provide those amenities for the drivers and the transporters.
Some of the drivers who spoke to the GNA complained about the bad road network from Han to Tumu and Tumu towards Chuchuliga.
The drivers called on the government to pay attention to the deplorable nature of the road to reduce the cost of maintenance and prevent needless accidents.
Mr Fuseini Batong Yakubu, the Sissala East Municipal Chief Executive said the creation of the articulator station had brought sanity to the Municipality and harmonised the collection of revenue, which had seen a marked increase.
Mr Yakubu said the concerns of the station including electricity, water, and urinary facilities had all been discussed and there were plans to ensure the culvert leading into the space and out would all be worked on.
GNA