Members of the Ghana Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union have begun a sit-down strike action to compel the government to fix the deplorable roads across the country especially the Tema Valco Roundabout to the Kpone junction road.
According to the drivers, the bad nature of the roads in the country poses a lot of danger to them especially since they carry very delicate and dangerous materials which can cause disaster with the slightest mistake.
The 7.2-kilometre stretch has been in bad shape for years, with several ponds of collected rainwater in the middle of the road stretching from the Valco roundabout, through the Tema Oil Refinery stretch to the Kpone junction making it difficult for vehicles to ply, especially tankers and other long vehicles.
In August 2020, the Ministry of Roads and Highways cut sod for its reconstruction but not much progress has been seen as its situation keeps worsening day after day.
The stretch can boast of several industries including VALCO, ALUWORKS, OLAMS, Chase Petroleum, Tema Tank Farm, Quantum Oil, Sunon Asogli Power Plant, and several warehouses, among others.
At a news conference and inspection of the road, Mr. George Nyaunu, the National Chairman of the Ghana Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union, declared the indefinite strike action for their demands to be met.
“We are embarking on a sit-down strike, effective today, until the authorities concerned have done something about our plight; our road from Valco roundabout to Kpone is horrible”, Mr. Nyaunu said.
He added that the stretch housed all the depots where petroleum products are loaded to serve the needs of the country, stressing that all the road networks they use to carry the products from Tema to Takoradi, Kumasi, and Buipe are all in bad shape.
According to him, they had complained many times to the government but to no avail, hence their decision to embark on a sit-down strike to drum home their demands, stressing that they would not sit down till a disaster occurs before the government moves into do something.
“We are sitting on a bomb, the products that we are carrying are bombs, all the depots are sited here, so should something happen, and we experience fire, it will be a disaster.
“Look at TOR, where the West Africa Gas Plant is; they are all some metres from each other; are they waiting for something to happen before they come to our aid? No, we can’t sit down and wait,” he emphasized.
On their part, drivers lament that the roads keep destroying their vehicles which prevents them from working.
“Before our trucks are loaded, we go through several checks and examinations. if one spring is faulty, you need to get it fixed before you can get your vehicles loaded”, some drivers said.
According to him, their expectation was that the revenue that the petroleum industry generated for the government should be enough incentive for their expectations and issues to be attended too swiftly.
They disclosed that changing just one tyre costs between GHS 3,000.00 and GHS 5,000.00, a situation they could not avoid due to the bad roads they ply on.
The Chairman further cautioned the government not to wait for a by-election before attending to the needs of the people who voted them into power, indicating that issues that would help increase the country’s revenue generation must be handled with haste.
