Revival for Metro Mass …Belgian gov’t agrees to supply 40 new buses for the next five years
Public transportation company, Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL)will take delivery of 40 new buses from the Belgian government for the next five years, President Nana Akufo-Addo has said.
According to the president, the Belgian government had agreed to a five-year support plan that will guarantee annual supply of buses to the MMTL to ensure that it remained viable.
He said “The Belgian government is yet extending another concessionary financing for the acquisition of 40 buses every year for the next 5 years to augment further the fleet of the company. This is truly timely and I urge all players to work assiduously as we seek to revamp fully the operations of Metro Mass Transport Limited.”
At a ceremony at the forecourts of the State House in Accra to commission 45 buses, President Akufo-Addo said the move was part of his administration’s efforts to improve public mass transportation and ensure the profitability of the operations of the MMTL.
The 45 VDL buses are the first batch of 100 buses that have been procured by the government to strengthen the MMTL’s aging fleet. The commissioning of these buses will improve the operations of MMTL and also offer passengers improved services.
President Akufo-Addo also disclosed that the project is being implemented in phases, with the phase covering the purchase of a total 100 buses and after sales service support and sufficient spare parts to restore some 15 broken down buses.
“We will have 150 out of this first phase, in addition to this, technical assistance in the form of a grant from the Belgian government is also being provided to cover training of drivers and maintenance of staff and operational support to the company, I express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Belgian government for providing both financial and technical support for the purchase of these buses.
Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, indicated that the second batch of 55 buses would be supplied and used before the end of the year.
He also encouraged the management of MMTL to explore other partnership arrangement with the private sector to bring in more buses to support its operations.
“It is my hope that these interventions among others would bring life to the company. The prosperity of our rising population is primarily reliant on the efficiency of our transport system, therefore investing in this area is unquestionably and prudent.”
Further, he stated that the culture of maintenance should not be lost on the company to “handle these buses with utmost care”, stressing that it is a huge investment the government has made and the only way to demonstrate the investment is worthwhile is to ensure “these buses go beyond their useful lifespan for the people of this country.”
Source: Business24 Newspaper