CALL THEM TO ORDER (SEPTEMBER 3, 2009)

AN efficient road transport system provides the oxygen for the free movement of people and goods across the length and breadth of the country.
Although we have not been able to pave all the road networks in the country to first-class standards, our rail and air transport was considered the most efficient in post-independent Ghana.
At least in the 1960s and early 1970s the rail network served the needs of the travelling public and businesses in the catchment areas of the rail road.
Students enjoyed travelling by trains to and from their schools and those in areas not served by the rail roads would connect to their destinations by road. Those were the days of the rail romance when it was a delight to travel by rail because of its safety, comfort and reliability.
Even as a small country struggling to build its economy many years ago, Ghana Airways was then the airline of choice of most travellers on the continent.
There is no doubt that Ghana is doing well in many spheres of human endeavour and for which reason we have been touted as a model but the failures in certain areas can be avoided if we get our act together.
The country has not done well in managing its transport companies over the years. The popular Omnibus Service Authority (OSA) and the City Express Service (CES) have collapsed because of mismanagement while Intercity STC is a shadow of its former self.
While the state finds it challenging to run mass transportation, the private operators, but for whose efforts the economy would have come to a standstill, are in brisk business.
The mass transit system offers the best way to address the bottlenecks in the transportation system and facilitate the free and quick movement of the people.
The previous government established the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMT) to break the monopoly of the private operators and offer cheaper alternatives to commuters.
Mass transit systems do not offer all the solutions to the transportation challenges. Some commuters complain about the system because it can be crowded, dirty and uncomfortable.
Also with limited budgets from subsidised services, such a system is not able to maintain its equipment and fleet of buses.
It is, therefore, not surprising that the MMT has decided to ground 400 buses imported from China in 2006 because of the non-availability of spare parts and trained mechanics to repair them.
The DAILY GRAPHIC finds it very worrying that the buses have been grounded due to lack of foresight on the part of those who secured the buses on behalf of the company.
The mass transit system has fulfilled a felt need in our cities and rural areas where commuters always struggle for transport, especially during the peak periods.
But as things stand now, many commuters including schoolchildren and workers who have relied on the buses will be stranded and will have to look for alternative means to travel to and from their destinations.
No matter the challenges, the DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the government to renew interest in reviving the country’s moribund public transportation system.
The surge of interest that greeted the introduction of the mass transit system must never be made to die but rekindled to complement the efforts of hardworking private operators.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that it is unpardonable for the company to acquire the buses from China without due diligence and technical support in the event of breakdowns.
We dare not kill the interest that mass transit has engendered after efforts to increase ridership of the public transport system. The Ministry of Transport should do everything to save the MMT but action should include severe sanctions against those whose actions or inaction has led to the current state of the MMT.