MMT PLEDGES TO OFFER AFFORDABLE SERVICES (PAGE 21)

THE Managing Director of the Metro Mass Transport (MMT) Limited, Mr Henk Visschers has pledged that the company would continue to offer affordable services to the public as part of its social responsibility towards building a sustainable public transport system for the country.
He stated that the MMT was not in the country to make profit but to help provide Ghanaians with safe, efficient, reliable and low cost transport services to every part of the country.
Mr Visschers made the pledge when he opened a two-day conference for inspectors of the company in Sunyani as part of its activities to improve upon its services to the people this year.
He stated that in recent times, most passengers had not demanded for their tickets when boarding the MMT buses.
The MD, therefore, advised the inspectors to update their knowledge in order to embark on routine inspection to ensure that the staff, especially conductors, were abreast of the new trends the company had adopted in its operations.
“This time around, passengers who do not demand for their tickets after paying for their fares before boarding the buses, would not be held liable but instead the conductors who would be held responsible for that”, he stressed.
Mr Visschers, therefore, urged commuters to always demand for their tickets before boarding any MMT bus.
He said another area that would engage the attention of management, would be road safety issues and the development of strategies to prevent accidents on the roads.
He said the company had, therefore, put in place measures to ensure that drivers of the MMT complied with road safety rules and regulations, stressing that the buses had been equipped with a mechanism to check speeding.
Mr Visschers emphasised that MMT bus drivers were expected to drive within the speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour .
He further stated that the MMT management had planned to re-train 1,300 of its drivers on safe driving, adding that those who are not fit to drive after the training, would be retrained and assisted to take up other jobs in the company.
According to him, the company had procured new alcohol metres for routine alcohol checks among drivers and conductors of the company which was being done 100 times a day nationwide.
He warned that any driver of the company who was found to have exceeded the company’s 0.00 per cent alcoholic intake would be dismissed.
Mr Visschers stated that the MMT had set its own standards to check alcohol intake which should be 0.00 per cent and not the statutory 0.08 per cent allowed by the laws of the country.
He announced that the company would upgrade its terminals in Kumasi, Techiman, Tamale and Accra at Kaneshie to provide comfort for passengers.
Mr Visschers and his entourage later paid a courtesy call on the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo at his office.
He told the regional minister that the company wanted to increase its fleet of buses in the region but could not do so due to lack of parking space.
The MD, therefore, appeal to him for assistance to enable the company to secure a place in the municipality for that purpose.