Aayalolo drivers on strike for unpaid salaries

Drivers of the Quality Bus System (QBS), popularly called Aayalolo have embarked on a sit down strike following management's inability to pay their five months salary arrears.

According to the striking drivers, management of the transport service have failed to pay them for the past five months in spite of the several assurances given them.

At the Amasaman terminal on Tuesday morning, for instance, all the offices of the company remained locked as the angry drivers directed passengers to go and pick private commercial vehicles.

Drivers

The angry drivers have threatened that until their salaries are paid, they are not going to work.

"We have been working everyday for the past five months but they have not been paying us," one of the drivers told Graphic Online.

Another driver said the company has no insurance policy for the drivers and that the drivers have to take care of their own health needs.

Officials

An official at the Amasaman terminal who did not disclose his identity said the drivers have not told him why they were striking and added that they only said they (drivers) would talk when management meets them.

The Spokesperson for the Amasaman terminal drivers, Mr Promise K. Homegah, in an interview said "how do you expect us to be driving this long buses on empty stomachs?"

"The whole Aayalolo drivers are on strike. They keep on promising us But to no avail," he said, adding that they don't have a sound mind to drive the buses.

He said some of the drivers have been divorced by their wives due to their inability to provide financials obligations expected of them.

He added that one driver whose wife divorced him is currently battling with stroke at home.

Mr Homegah said the company has no bus to pick the drivers from their homes and that the drivers have to use their little monies on them to board commercial vehicles to work.

Background

On Friday, June 29, this year, the Daily Graphic reported that some officials within the company have disclosed that the company is not a viable venture.

This is because the officials said 70 per cent of its cash flow goes into fuel purchase, while the remaining 30 per cent goes into the payment of salaries and other expenses.

The Aayalolo transport service was launched on June 22, 2016 by former by President John Mahama as part of measures to ease the stress associated with public transport system in parts of Accra.

Currently, 58 buses out of about 245 imported into the country for the Quality Bus System (QBS) are being used on the Amasaman-Achimota-Tudu corridors.

The programme is a collaborative effort between the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE), managers of the Aayalolo buses, Scania Ghana and the German government.