Commercial drivers say 20% fuel price reduction insignificant

Some commercial drivers in the Wa Municipality have described the recent 20 per cent reduction in  fuel prices as woefully insignificant and would have no positive impact on the cost of living.

They said it would rather create problems, as passengers would demand a reduction in fares, which according to them would not be possible because of the insignificant reduction.

The drivers expressed these sentiments when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the major lorry station in Wa on Monday to know their views about the fuel price reduction.

The government recently increased prices of petroleum products between 15 and 20%, which saw the price of petrol going up from about GH¢7.00 per gallon to almost GH¢8.00.

The increase generated a lot of debate, threats of strikes from labour unions and public criticisms with some opposition pressure groups describing the government as being insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians.

The government therefore issued a directive to the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) last week to reduce the price by 20% percent..

Meanwhile, checks by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at some major filling stations in Wa, including Total, GOIL and Union Oil, revealed that, the price of petrol has been reduced from GH¢1.755 per litre to GH¢1.708 and diesel from GH¢1.771 per litre to GH¢1.724.

This, the commercial drivers saw as insignificant and a mockery of their plight.

They said the situation had already caused confusion between the Students of the Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) and the “trotro” drivers, which sometimes end up at the police station for a solution.

Source: GNA