'Yaxing Buses On Road'
The Yaxing buses supplied by the Yaxing Coach Company of China are still ferrying thousands of people daily in Accra, Sunyani, Takoradi, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Oda, Swedru and Tema.
The buses, known as ‘Yellow buses’, are of good quality and more than 500 of them are in operation in Angola, The Sudan and Libya, according to the suppliers of the buses.
The Metro Mass Transit ( MMT) Company recently claimed that the buses were not suitable for conditions in Ghana, but that claim has been found not to be true. It is also not true that all the 400 buses plying several routes in Ghana have broken down.
The Managing Director of the MMT, Mr Hink Visschers, had claimed that the Yaxing buses had problems with their clutches, engines and electrical systems and that the buses were not suitable for conditions in Ghana.
He said the problem was compounded by the lack of after-sales service, which led to the constant breakdown of the buses in Ghana.
A Ghana News Agency (GNA) inquiry found that there was a problem between the management of the MMT and the Chinese engineers who have been in Ghana since March 2004 to maintain the buses but because of the differences the Chinese engineers had been barred, since 2007, from entering any MMT facility in the country.
Investigations showed that the Chinese and the MMT management worked cordially until Mr Visschers was appointed, together with a new management, in 2005, after which he imported 50 Neoplan VDL buses.
“The Chinese engineers were from that point prevented from having access to the yard, touching the Yaxing buses and supervising work at MMT workshops and even participating in the maintenance of the buses,” a mechanic said.
The engineers were, therefore, unable to service the broken down buses and provide routine maintenance, as contained in two contracts signed between the Ministry of Transport and the Chinese company in 2003 and 2005.
As a result, some of the buses have been grounded and others cannibalised to service other buses, without the knowledge and input of the Chinese engineers.
The GNA found that following complaints from the MMT, the manufacturers of the buses Dongfeng Cummins China, despatched a 10-member team to Ghana in 2008 to conduct investigations.
It presented a nine-page report to the Ministry of Transport, part of which said tap water, instead of coolant, was being used to fill the radiators, often leading to rust, overheating and blockage of the system.
The team also found that sub-standard parts that were not bought from the manufacturers were used on the buses. Those include fuel filters, oil filters and water separators.
Also, unauthorised modifications to engines, the removal of parts of the buses, as well as improper operation of the buses, resulting in damage to the pedals and the clutches, were widespread.
Between 2004 and 2007, the government of Ghana took delivery of 400 Yaxing buses to improve public transportation in the country. —