The Minister of Transport, Kweku Ofori Asiamah together with his team inspected the facility at Ashaley Botwe in Madina on Friday, October 13, and said the contractors will hand over the terminal to government ending of October where operations will begin.
Speaking to the media after the inspection, the Transport Minister disclosed that the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) terminal at Madina cost government about $3.5m, a loan they took from Ghana International Bank in London and HSBC London to aid in the construction of the facility.
According to him, government will ensure the terminal is commercialised so it generates enough revenue to help pay back the loan they took for the construction of the bus terminal.
“This terminal is causing around 3.5 million dollars so it’s not coming cheap. So once the terminal is built we must make sure that it is put to use so that the burden will not be on government to go and pay for something that cannot repay for itself....... I have no doubt that at the end of the time that we are supposed to pay for the loan, the revenue from the bus itself will be able to pay for the cost”, he stressed.
The minister reiterated that for this to be achieved managers of the Quality Bus System (QBS) popularly known as ‘Aayalolo’, that is the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE) must take into consideration the maintenance of the terminal and how to well put the facility into a commercial use so that they can get the necessary funds to repay their $3.5m loan.
About 60 buses are set to be deployed on the Adenta-Accra route and it would be scaled up gradually, much like the Amasaman to Accra route, which started with 28 buses but is now up to 58 buses.
The QBS, which started in October 2016, plying the Amasaman to Accra stretch, has been fraught with a lot of challenges, especially with the limited designated lanes.
But the Transport Minister further disclosed that his ministry will have a close discussion with GAPTE to know the number of BRT lanes to construct for the buses to ply on until then since the infrastructure facility isn’t available, they will just use the normal roads used by other vehicles.
The elevation of the city of Accra to a millennium city has necessitated the modernization of the transport system to a rapid, efficient and reliable mode of transportation.
It is envisaged that this magnificent development will improve the traffic congestion in the city of Accra, by providing a rapid and reliable mode of transportation. Appropriate provision for the convenient accessibility will be made by layby’s and adequate turning circles connecting to the Adenta-Accra BRT lanes.
