Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
Members of the Ghana Haulage Transport Drivers Association, with its headquarters in Kumasi, have proposed the amendment of the Legislative Instrument (L. I. 1584), which bans the movement of all vehicles above three tonnes, within the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The association suggested that the banning order should cover a four-hour period, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The call for the amendment was necessitated by the recent enforcement of the law by the Ashanti Regional Police Command, following the relaxation of the law over the years.
At a press conference in Kumasi, the association said the law, as it stood, was inimical to the interest its members, as it had brought some pressure to bear on their operations, thereby adversely affecting them to the detriment of the national economy, since a hold on haulage would affect the carting of essential goods from the hinterlands to the ports, and vice versa.
The announcement by the Ashanti Pegional Police Command, in July this year, to ban the movement of heavy trucks at night, was to check the spate of avoidable accidents in the region.
Assigning reasons for the call for the amendment, Mr. Andrews Owusu, Treasurer of the association, explained that it took a minimum of six hours for a loaded cargo or articulated truck, to leave Tema Port and arrive in Kumasi, and that a vehicle which took off at 1 p.m. had to get to its destination, by the deadline of 6 p.m., if it had to do the journey in five hours.
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