COVID-19 pandemic ruining our business

The leader of the Volta Regional Tricycle Riders Union, Mr Francis Selase Alaga, says the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has ruined their tricycle business in the Volta Region.

Making this known to the Daily Graphic in an interview, he said the coronavirus had impacted negatively on their tricycle business because people were scared to ride with them.

"Our business has gone down; people are no more patronising the tricycle like first. Sometimes you can only get the fuel money and that's all. If God is not on your side, you get nothing at all by close of day," he said.

Arrest

Mr Alaga said the union met with the Motor Traffic and Transport Directorate (MTTD) and the Ho Municipal Assembly in Ho to discuss ways to prevent the virus from infecting the riders and the passengers.

He said after the meeting, it was concluded that all tricycle riders in the region should wear their mask before riding and also have their sanitisers with them.

He added "we were given two weeks ultimatum to organise ourselves and any rider who would not meet the requirements will be arrested and arraigned before court."

He pleaded with the government to regulate their activities and make a law that would support their work in the country "because the emergence of this tricycle has helped us a lot."

Sales

A tricycle rider, Robert Alavi, said when COVID-19 was not in existence, the business was good but the outbreak of the virus had collapsed their activities.

He said making sales for the tricycle owners had become very difficult because they had to reduce the passenger intake from three to two.

"The tricycle is not our own so we have to make sales every week of G¢270 which was reduced to GH¢250. Meeting the target has become difficult because if you meet three people going somewhere and they stop you, you can't carry them. Sometimes, if you have only one passenger in your tricycle and two people stop you, you can't pick them because the police will arrest you," he said.

He said although the price of fuel had fallen, the reduction in the number of passengers was hindering their profit making in a day.

He pleaded with the tricycle owners to look into their plight and reduce their weekly sales for them so that his colleagues would stop losing their tricycles adding, "if you don’t make sales, your tricycle will be taken away from you and be given to someone else to ride."