Vim Transport Union banned from operating at Shiashie after clash with police

The Ayawaso West Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) in the Greater Accra Region has banned Vim Transport, a drivers’ union, from operating at the Shiashie lorry terminal with immediate effect.

According to MUSEC, the union has not been registered and officially permitted by the assembly to operate in the area hence the ban.

The decision was taken after an emergency meeting on Friday, following a nasty clash between some drivers and personnel from the Greater Accra Regional Police Command at the Shiashie Lorry Station on Wednesday, after the drivers refused to relocate to a different spot for work to begin on a model lorry station and market earmarked for the area by the assembly.

The project, which is expected to be completed within18 months,  should have started last year but was delayed due to suspicion among some drivers operating in the area that the lorry station had been sold to a private developer.

But, the Ayawaso West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Sandra Owusu-Ahenkorah, told the Ghanaian Times that the members of the Vim Transport Union who clashed with the police have never registered to operate in the area, as such, they would not be allowed to delay the project.

According to her, four Transport Unions were operating in the area and after stakeholder consultations on the pending project, the three left leaving Vim Transport operators who parked their vehicles at the lorry station and refused to move them.

The MCE, who is the Chairman of MUSEC, indicated that to avoid any frustration in the way of the contractor, the Police were called in to restore law and order, only for the drivers to start attacking the police.

She said the four who were initially arrested were later granted bail and warned that no impediment would be allowed in the way of the project.

 Ms Owusu-Ahenkorah said the land belonged to the government and all necessary documentations have been completed for work to begin.

She stated that the project, when completed, would still maintain its original name as the Shiashie Lorry Station.

BY: LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU