We'll Stop Paying Tolls To AMA – Tema Station Hawkers, Drivers Threaten

Nii Walakataka, Chairman, Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) Tema Station Branch, on Wednesday, said drivers and hawkers at the station would cease to pay tolls to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly from August 13.

The move, he said, was to protest the actions of the “Operation COVID-19 Safety” team, who closed down the station between 0830 hours and 1230 hours.

Nii Walakataka told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the action was to send a signal to the Assembly to take up their responsibility to keep the station clean and to ensure the maintenance of the station.

He said the Operation COVID-19 Safety team made up of military men arrived at the station on Wednesday, August 12, to monitor persons who did not keep to the COVID-19 protocols.

He claimed the team, unfortunately, closed down the station from 0830 hours to 1230 hours and in the cause of the operation assaulted some drivers and workers.

He alleged that the Operation COVID-19 Safety team during the process also forced some drivers and workers to clean the lorry park before being allowed to load their cars.

The COVID-19 Safety Team also tasked the GPRTU Tema Station Branch to provide dust-bins for the vehicles.

“We immediately bought 12 bins to be placed in the cars,” Nii Walakataka stated.

Nii Walakataka alleged that the military men also blocked the entrance of the station and kept buses and passengers on hold to ensure that the place was clean and people kept to the COVID-19 protocols.

The COVID-19 Safety team declined to talk to the media.

---GNA