Taxi drivers queue for gas
Taxi drivers in parts of Accra have called on government to, as matter of urgency, put in place measures to address the erratic supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the country.
According to some of the taxi drivers who spoke to Today yesterday, for the past two weeks they have been finding it difficult to get LPG, a situation they say, affects their daily income.
“We have been hopping from one filling station to another in search of gas but to no avail. And where the commodity is available, there are long queues. In fact, some of us don’t know what to do,” Daniel Arthur, a taxi driver told this reporter in frustration.
However, when the paper got to the White Cross Filling Station near Weija in Accra, more than 60 vehicles were in a long winding queue scrambling for the product.
“I had to wake up as early as 12:00 a.m., to join a queue and had to wait till about 2 p.m., in the afternoon, before I was served,” a driver who wants to remain anonymous told the paper.
Osei Agyeman, another taxi driver, could also not hide his frustrations, saying “My sister, (referring to this reporter) I had to park my car for more than two days because of this situation and you can imagine the hell some of us have to go through to feed our families.”
Continuing, he recounted that during the regime of the erstwhile NPP administration, there was no instance where taxi drivers queued for gas, stressing that it is about time the NDC government instituted measures to reverse that trend.
“I will always praise former President Kufuor for the measures he put in place during his reign. In fact, everything was properly planned, so hardly would you see cars queuing for petrol or gas.
… If indeed this government wants to retain power in 2012, then it behooves them to resolve the shortage to gain public sympathy before the next election,” Osei Agyemang warned.
The paper’s visit to other filling stations in the metropolis showed the seriousness of the shortage as commercial drivers were observed jostling for the product.
STORY: ROSE AMI KPOGOH, JAYEE INTERN