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Trailer and truck drivers operating from the Tema Port have appealed to the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) not to use the proposed certification and verification of their vehicles to throw them out of work.

The drivers, who expressed their unhappiness about the said verification system to be introduced by the GPHA, told the Ghana News Agency that it was a ploy by the Port authorities to replace their old trucks with that of some politicians.

They questioned why their trucks must undergo a test to be carried out by Auto Consult Ventures Limited (ACVL) partners of GPHA, after satisfying the road worthy requirements of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).

Alhaji Ibrahim Alhassan, Trustee for the Ghana Haulage Tanker Drivers Association, said they believed that the DVLA checks on their trucks bi-annually was enough to ensure proper maintenance of the vehicles.

Alhaji Alhassan added that the checks, the GPHA and the ACVL wanted to introduce could only be met by new trucks and would lead to drivers of old trucks losing their livelihood as it was a standard their vehicles could never pass.

Mr Ahmed Nurudeen, Secretary for the Ghana National Cargo Transport Association, stressed that the drivers were not interested in the new system as it would bring untold hardship on them.

Mr Nurudeen further asked the GPHA and the ACVL to do more consultations with stakeholders especially the drivers before embarking on the implementation of the programme.

The GPHA is to introduce a system of certification and verification of over 11,289 registered vehicles loading from the Port as a measure to prevent needless accidents caused by faulty trucks and trailers in town.

According to Port authorities, whereas DVLA would continue to do its mandatory road worthiness checks, the ACVL would check the load worthiness of the harbour vehicles, a check the DVLA does not do.

An embossment containing security details of the vehicles would be put on the trailers which would be verified before trucks enter the Port to ensure that those certified were not decoupled and a faulty one used on the road.