SENSITISATION EXERCISE FOR TRANSIT DRIVERS ENDS (MARCH 6TH, PAGE 34)

A sensitization exercise to educate transit drivers and transporters who conveyed cargo from the Tema port to Mali , Niger and Burkina-Faso on road regulations has been held in Tema .
The exercise which was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with the West African Trade Hub and the Shippers Council was also to afford the drivers the opportunity to make public some allegations of bribery and delay which they encountered in the performance of their duties .
The meeting brought together officials of the Improved Road Transport and Governance Project ,(IRTG ) Senior Police officers , Immigration and Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) Officials who responded to questions from the drivers .
The programme was held mostly in French and translated by Mr Kossi Dahoui of the Centre Pour Le Commerce en Afrique de’Ouest / Accra brought together about 50 drivers and representatives of the land locked countries
The drivers complained among others lack of parking lots on the route from Tema to Paga , short interval barriers , demand of monies by the Police and CEPS officials and ineffectiveness of Insurance policies in Ghana .
According to the drivers the law allows for resting after driving for four hours but there are no parking lots and security considering the activities of armed robbers .
They claimed that the mode of checks by some police patrol officials on the high ways posed danger to life explaining that they sometimes hid behind trees and appeared suddenly with hands raised .
The drivers were alleged that for failing to stop immediately where the police men stood landed them in cells and sometimes had their back tires shot at .
They appealed to the Police Command to consider their distance and the goods they carried to treat them accordingly to serve the country .
About the motorway , they asserted that government was loosing revenue because the scale did not take care of excess loads and yet some officials at the check points charged for excess alleging that the amount paid in the name of excess load went into individual pockets .
They therefore suggested that the Highway Authority must mount a digital scale which would determine the amount to be paid covered by receipts so that government would benefit from the road tax as done in other neighbouring countries .
The Highways Authority was also urged to make road designs which would be easily assessed by both small and big vehicles .
The drivers were of the view that certain portions of the countries roads and roundabouts which they used to their destinations were not convenient .
They said some of the trucks had to climb pavements before negotiating the curves making them dangerous .



The Tema Rgional Police Commander , DCOP John Kudalor in response to some of the questions cautioned the drivers that free movement did not mean they should not be checked .
He advised them to ensure that they carried genuine documents which granted them the permission to travel out of the country .
DCOP Kudalor said the police officer had the tool which empowered him to check vehicles but called on the drivers to report any official who through the excuse of performing his duties would want to extort from them .
He said the Police has a unit established to monitor the activities of the personnel and therefore any policeman found culpable was tried and dismissed .
DCOP Kudalor also said the official barriers from Accra to Paga were supposed to be 11 but added that in times of operations the police could mount additional barriers to check vehicles and persons .
He however urged them to avoid stopping by any one police personnel who will be found on the road in uniform explaining that “ no one person would ever be sent on road duties .”
The drivers were later introduced to the required interstate documents needed by transit Ghanaian truck drivers .
These include international driving permit ,National Identity Card or Passport ,Ecowas certificate ,valid roadworthiness certificate, Ecowas Log Book to be checked by CEPS and wood conveyance certificate, waybill and VAT receipt to be checked by Forestry officials.
Other items were International certificate of vaccination ,Ghana Standard Board quality export certificate among others .