400 Metro Mass buses grounded

Metro Mass Bus

All the 400 Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMT) buses which were delivered from China to the Ministry of Roads and Transport in 2006 have been grounded. The situation, according to the management of the MMT, has been occasioned by the availability of spare parts and trained mechanics to repair the defective buses.

The current situation comes with dire consequences for some 320, OOO passengers who commute daily on the buses from one part to another in the various metropolitan and districts across the country. In the circumstance, the management of the company has applied to the Ministry of Transport for a permit to dispose of the buses to individuals and interested organizations. It said funds from the proposed auction could help procure more buses to augment its fleet.

The Managing Director of the MMT, Mr. Henk Visschers, who confirmed the distressing situation to the Daily Graphic on Tuesday, however, assured the travelling public that the management had put in place some pragmatic measures such as “cost subsidiary” to make the system sustainable.

The then Ministry of Roads and Transport from 2004 took delivery of many buses with the last batch of 150 being delivered in April 2006, out of the 400 buses from China. The 150 buses, which cost $7.2 million, were to augment the fleet of the MMT to be used in the company’s 10 operational areas and in Bolgatanga, where operations were yet to begin.

Mr Visschers said the other brand of vehicles the government took delivery of in 2002, such as the VOL and Tata buses, were still in operation while those bought from China much later had all broken down because “they were of inferior quality.” The situation certainly could impact negatively on staff morale but the MD said there were harmonious industrial relations between management and the union, culminating in the improvement of service to the public. Mr Visschers said pupils and students were still enjoying the free ride on metro buses.

On measures to improve on the consistent flooding of the MMT yard, he said the company was developing a system to collect the water after the rains to be used later to wash the buses while the engineers were also working hard to solve the problem of perennial flooding of the yard.

Source: GBC NEWS