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General News of Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2019-02-06
Some of these buses have not moved since coming to the country in 2016
Two hundred and forty-five buses were imported by the government in 2016 to implement the urban transport system to improve public transport in the country.
An investigation by JoyNews revealed that buses and the infrastructure needed to run them cost the country $ 742 million, but the program is at a standstill.
In a series of Joynews investigations titled "Grounded Wheels," Manbadeh Azure Awuni reveals that the government has moved away from the project's implementation plan, designed with support from the World Bank.
In 2016, President John Mahama commissioned the Urban Transit System, a compromised form of the BRT system. The legal entity created to manage what has become the Aayalolo bus system is the person responsible for pbadenger transport in Greater Accra (GAPTE).
Twenty buses were deployed at the beginning of the Aayalolo bus system in December 2016 but increased to 68 in September 2018. The Tudu-Amasaman road, which had designated stops and a few meters of reserved lanes near the bus stops, was used for the execution of the project. , which started in 2007. However, after less than two years of operation, the transport system encountered difficulties and remained stuck.
The government has imported a total of 245 buses for the Aayalolo project. Some of these buses have not moved since arriving in the country in 2016. The 68 that were used for the pilot project have also been grounded.
Each Marco Polo Low Entry City bus costs $ 251,600 in Ghana, for a total cost of $ 61,642,000. In addition to infrastructure development costs, the project cost Ghana $ 151 million, or more than 742 million cedis. Of this amount, only $ 7 million is a grant from the Global Environment Facility. The others are loans.
The World Bank financed the infrastructure component of the project from 2008 to 2015. JoyNews wrote to the Bank to share its comments. The World Bank responded that it considered the implementation of the project as "unsatisfactory". In an email to JoyNews, the World Bank said:
"In a post-completion evaluation of the project, the Bank found the performance of the project unsatisfactory. The government's purchase of buses was a departure from the original plan for a limited competitive regime for transit on major routes. The project provided that private sector operators would be responsible for providing the specified quality of buses for operations along designated routes on the basis of a route license issued by the regulator. Government intervention in the purchase of buses has resulted in the loss of private sector initiative and investment in pbadenger transport to improve mobility. "
The World Bank added that "the resulting business case evaluated 80 buses as an initial requirement." However, the government bought 245, more than three times more.
The Aayalolo, as part of its 68 buses, has accumulated a debt of 11.9 million GH ¢. It now takes a total of 20 billion GH ¢ to restart the operation.
There is always an obstacle to scale even if the operators of the Aayalolo bus system receive the money. Our investigation revealed that interferences by politicians and government officials were the reason why Aayalolo could not treat trotro drivers who parked their vehicles in reserved Aayalolo lanes and bus stops. For this reason, Aayalolo bus traffic increased from 11,000 pbadengers per day in September 2017 to less than 5,000 pbadengers per day in September 2018. In addition to the deviation from the implementation plan and the cost, a solution will have to be found. for political interference if the service can continue to operate effectively.
Until then, the buses will continue to wither and Ghana will continue to repay the loans with interest.
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