Volta Lake Transport Workers Call For Removal Of Management

Two hundred and sixty workers of the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC), operators of pontoons and ferries at Kete Krachi, Dambai, Kwahu Adawso, Duite and Akosombo, have been on strike for some days now, due to alleged neglect, mismanagement and non-payment of staff. As a result, there has been a long queue of vehicles loaded with yam, maize, charcoal, fish and other foodstuffs, with some of them going bad, as the drivers wait at Ekye Amanfrom for the pontoon to transport their produce to Kwahu Adawso and other marketing centres. The workers have, therefore, called for the removal of the Chief Executive of the Company, Mr Eric Yaboye and his 15-member management and contract staff, for their inefficiency and mismanagement of the company, as some workers have not been paid for the past seven months. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in a telephone interview , the local chairman of the Maritime Workers Union, Mr. Victor Amoah said, due to mismanagement of the company, most of their vessels are being run with one engine, instead of two, which put the lives of passengers and operating staff in danger should the single engine break down. He said most of the vessels also operate with faulty fuel pumps, and that make them to spend over one drum of engine oil a day, which is on the high side. Mr Amoah said the situation has become risky for the users of the vessel, and the workers cannot look on unconcerned until disaster strikes. Traders and farmers in the Afram Plains have, therefore, appealed to the government to intervene to find a permanent solution to the problems of the VLTC staff to enable them transport their produce to marketing centres . Meanwhile, a Ghana Broadcasting Corporation(GBC) news monitored by the GNA on Wednesday morning, disclosed that the workers of VLTC have called off the strike.