Passengers bemoan rickety ‘tro-tros’

STORY: GRACE ANYOMI & SARAH ANNANG, GIJ INTERNS

Passengers in Accra metropolis have bemoaned the state of commercial vehicles, otherwise known as tro-tro, which ply various routes in the capital.

According to some of the passengers, who spoke to our team of reporters, the state of some of the tro-tro vehicles in Accra ‘leaves much to be desired, and therefore pose great risks to passengers.

They intimated that the seats in some of the tro-tros are so appalling with their leathers ripped off, hence exposing the foam in the seats.
What is worse, the passengers complained that some of the seats are poorly fitted in the vehicles; hence passengers are always dangled about anytime vehicles hit pot-holes.

A closer look also reveal faded and outmoded number plates which hang loosely at the front and back of the vehicles.
“Passengers should not sacrifice their lives to board a vehicle because they are in a hurry just to lose it later and never get to their destination…we are paying for a service, so that service should be rendered in a manner well deserved,” a passenger advised.

Today further observed that some of the tro-tro vehicles have become ‘swimming pools and death traps and arenas of mud’ anytime it rains.

An angry passenger, who gave his name as Ama, recounted to our reporter how she was severely beaten by rain the last time she boarded a ‘tro-tro’ on her way to work.
“I was so wet the last time it rained so I had to avoid work,” Ama recounted.

According to Fati, another passenger, passengers who had boarded the Circle bound ‘tro-tro’ with the hope of escaping from a heavy downpour in the metropolis received the shock of their lives as the commercial vehicle in which they were travelling became a ‘swimming pool.”

She further stated that this led to the near-flooding of the 23-seater vehicle which carried passengers and goods.
While some of the tro-tros have their roofs torn apart as a result of corrosion, others have simply worn out and are suffering from wear and tear.

Areas which suffer from this menace, according to our investigations, include Osu, Chorkor, Kaneshie, Odorkor, Tabora, Alhaji and Lomnava.

Though the passengers complained bitterly about the poor state of these vehicles and their lorry parks, the paper gathered that they have no option since road transport is the only affordable means of transport in the capital and the country as a whole. The other means of transportation, railway, water and air, are so poorly developed.