The Ghana National Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Tanker Drivers have suspended their industrial action after three hours of indoor meetings with the various stakeholders in Tema.
The striking drivers are expected to resume work tomorrow, Friday, while work to improve the road are undertaken.
The union announced a sit-down strike on Monday over concerns about the poor road network around their loading terminals.
The union’s vice chairman, Sunday Alabi, said that after the meeting with the Minister, the union decided to suspend their strike at midnight on Thursday, June 29, 2023, on the condition that the contractor ensures that the riding quality is improved within three weeks.
“The access road to the depots in Kumasi, Takoradi and Bupe are to be improved as works on the roads will commence from tomorrow and a seven-member committee is formed. The ministry will give us three people and four will be from the union to monitor the progress of works on the roads.”
Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr. Kwesi Amoako Atta, proposed some temporary measures to rehabilitate the deployable 7.2-kilometre stretch of road from Kpone to the Tema Oil Refinery area.
He made the proposal during the mediation engagement with the Tema chapter of the Tanker Drivers Association of Ghana to discuss issues about the strike and to assess the current state of the road.
Mr. Amoako Atta stated that the contractor had been given an order to reshape the entire road and make it motorable for drivers and pedestrians.
The Minister said an adhoc committee would be constituted, which would include representatives of the various tanker drivers’ unions, to serve as an oversight team to monitor and ensure that the contractor worked according to the agreed proposals.
He said the government had not abandoned the road since it was awarded some two years ago but acknowledged the fact that progress on the road had been slow, therefore creating inconveniences for motorists.
Mr. Amoako Atta assured the striking drivers that he would be visiting the road on a weekly basis till the road became motorable for both domestic and commercial motorists.
Mr. George Nyayonu, Chairman of the Tema chapter of the Tanker Drivers Association of Ghana, told the media in an interview that the strike was not to embarrass the government but was to draw attention to the dangers the road poses to the tanker drivers.
Mr. Nyaonu said tanker drivers put their lives in danger, saying the state of the road has the tendency to cause damage to their vehicles should the unexpected happen.
He was pleased with the Road Minister’s decision to compel the contractor to Fast Track the construction of the road to avert any unforeseen circumstances.
Tanker drivers embarked on a sit-down strike on Monday to draw the attention of the government to fix most of the deployable roads to the various fuel depots across the country.