Drivers, passengers and transport operators within the Lower Manya and Yilo Krobo municipalities of the Eastern Region may have to deal with the sorry state of the various lorry stations during the dry season and also ahead of the next rainy season.
The stations including the Kpong, Agomanya, Odumase and others in Somanya remain in a poor state as failure of authorities to lay pavements, build washrooms in some cases amongst other needs continue to expose patrons of the facilities to various inconveniences.
The bare grounds on which the activities are undertaken at the places means passengers have no option but to endure the inconveniences of the dust during the dry season and the soggy wet grounds during the rainy days.
The affected persons say several calls to the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo municipalities have proven futile, leaving the facilities in same state over the years despite the regular payment of tolls to officials of the state institutions.
Mr. Stephen Tetteh, President of the Co-Operative Transport Society at Agormanya describing the problem said the Agomanya lorry station which serves as a major transportation hub during market days on Wednesdays and Saturdays remains in a bad shape.
Patrons of the facility are further constrained by various trading activities at the already cramped station on market days.
Mr. Tetteh while calling for the rehabilitation and expansion of the transport space to ease the operations of the transport operators, passengers and traders said, “The station is small, we need it to be expanded and the floor fixed with tiles and pavement blocks. The place is filthy and we’re unable to work when it rains, passengers do not even have shelter when it rains or while waiting for vehicles,” he lamented.
Wondering what the tolls collected from drivers and traders were put to, the transport chairman said, “They collect tolls from the market but there’s no improvement here at the station.”
According to him, there was also the need for ‘IN’ and ‘OUT’ signposts to direct drivers in and out of the station.
Mr. Tetteh lamented that the situation was disrupting the smooth operations of their activities and called on authorities of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly to intervene and address the problems as soon as possible.
Asked if the drivers had channeled their concerns to the local Assembly, the transport chairman responded: “As for the Assembly, we’ve engaged them severally but nothing has been done about the problem.”
A driver who operates from the Kpong station to Koforidua for the past year, Agbo Evans Fiati also lamented over the small size of the station. He said the place needed to be expanded to enable it accommodate the high number of vehicles that operate from there.
According to him, the vehicles found it difficult and inconvenient to park and manoeuvre within the limited space.
“The station is too small for us,” he lamented. “The cars are plenty and we need at least expansion so that they can help us to let our job move smoothly for us because sometimes we find it difficult for the cars to park unless some of them will go out and park outside.”
Another driver, Isaac Tetteh also wants the ground to be floored to save patrons from the unpleasant inconveniences they are subjected to.
He wondered what was stopping the Assembly from developing the station despite the continuous tolls paid by the transport operators. He said, “We want the council [Assembly] to come and fix tiles here at the station. Here at the station, we don’t have any issues with the Assembly with the payment of tolls.”
A passenger who identified himself as Martin expressed regret at the state of the station when it rains. He complained: “During the rainy season it disturbs a lot, if it is raining we find it difficult to come to the station.”
Meanwhile, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Lower Manya Krobo, Hnourable Simon Kwaku Tetteh when contacted for his response gave a firm assurance that plans were far advanced for the necessary works to be done to improve the situation at the various stations.
The lorry stations remain in a poor condition according to the drivers