Deputy Managing Director (Operations/Technical) at Metro Mass Transit (MMT) Limited, Haroun Apaw-Wiredu, has revealed that about 198 of their buses are unserviceable.
He disclosed this on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM. He lamented that the previous administration failed to manage MMT effectively and efficiently, allowing several of their buses to grind to a halt.
He said that from the foundation stages of MMT, former President Kufuor started with 500 buses. Haroun Apaw-Wiredu said the combined term of the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills and President John Dramani Mahama saw both governments retool MMT with some 500 buses.
But unfortunately, when the previous Akufo-Addo-led government took over, it failed to retool the company.
He said they rather sold about 400 buses as scrap in October 2017 and again sold 300 additional buses as scrap in October 2024, making a total of 700 buses sold as scrap.
He further revealed that only 90 buses at the workshop are serviceable, which are at various levels of repairs, while a staggering 197 buses are unserviceable.
“As we speak, 90 MMT buses are serviceable and are at the workshop and are at various levels of repairs. However, 197 of them have been declared unserviceable. The current number of buses we have nationwide is only 115. The fleet level has gone down to an all-time low in the history of the company.”
He added that the original plan was to have MMT operate on 385 dedicated routes but is doing only 80; he was quick to add that the current government has rolled out measures to add more fleets to the buses and revamp MMT.
He assured the Ghanaian public, particularly those struggling to get access to commercial transport during peak hours, that they have taken steps to address the challenge.
Mr Apaw-Wiredu added that they received authorisation from the Ministry of Finance for the purchase of 300 new buses that would arrive in three batches of 100 each.
He said by the first week of March, the first 100 buses will arrive in Ghana, while the next fleet of 100 will be in by July, ending with the last batch of 100 by September. According to him, plans were advanced to bring in 200 Toyota Hiace and Coaster buses and other buses.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
