State owned Intercity State Transport Company (ISTC) has taken delivery of fifty brand new Scania coaches to enable the company augment its fleet and boost its services and to ensure that it lives up to their mantra, safety, comfort and professionalism.
According to the ISTC boss, Mr. Nuama, the coaches came through the personal intervention of president John Dramani Mahama through the ministries of transport and finance after the president earlier made a promise to the company of his unflinching support and his quest to see the ailing state transport company bounce back to profitability.
According to him, the president, oblivious of the predicament of the company indicated his commitment and desire to aid the company acquire buses and coaches to enable them serve the travelling public in the country.
“I wish to say that the fifty buses have arrived in Tema and we have taken delivery of eleven of them which are currently at Scania who are doing pre-delivery inspections and hand over” he said.
“A difficult journey it has been in the last two years”. These were the words of the Intercity State Transport Company (ISTC) boss when he welcomed the Minister of Transport, Fifi Kwetey to the state owned Transport Company, when the latter paid a day’s familiarisation visit to the company.
Mr. Nuama Donkor who also took time to expatiate on the features of the new coaches intimated that they possess six cameras, two at the front of the bus, two inside the bus and two at the rear, adding that the buses have also been fitted with Wi-Fi services to help customers work on the go from city to city. He further explained that Coffee making machines and fridges have also been built in the coaches to allow passengers feel at home and enjoy all the comfort until they reach their destinations. He said plans were also afoot to employ the services of stewards in all their buses so that drivers can concentrate on their driving throughout the journey.
These services according to Mr. Nuama Donkor will not generate extra cost that will burden their customers. According to him, they intend to strengthen their revenue generation drive through other assets they have all around the country to help defray the cost of extra services.
“We don’t intend to burden customers with this cost, we have a lot of assets in the country which we intend to put to use, by advertising on our walls and on board our buses” he expressed.
Mr. Donkor was quick to add that, as part of efforts to remain the safest means of road transport and the choice of the people, bus drivers will undergo a rigorous medical test every morning before they move from their respective terminals.
“As is done in the aviation sector, pilots are screened every morning, our drivers quarters will be turned into a clinic so that drivers will be checked thoroughly before they move. We have two drivers in every bus so that in case of any medical emergency, the other driver can take over” he said.
Within the past two years, despite ISTC’s near demise, it has done well to maintain a good reputation in its delivery of shuttle services from Accra to Aflao and back which have helped rake in some revenue for the company. The company also maintained its parcel delivery services which was their main means of raking in revenue. Through these services which they intend to improve, the company made between 80 and 90 thousand Ghana Cedis every month.
Very soon ISTC will introduce marine transport service which expected to kick start in the next few months. This is meant to help make marine transport an option for people and towns that live close to the water bodies.
The new life in ISTC also comes as a result of the leadership of the board and management of the company led by Mr. Nuama Donkor who has been lauded by staff as a brilliant and hardworking man. Union Trustee of ISTC, Mr. Daniel Arhin could not hide his admiration for his boss and expressed his joy in the new life at the state owned transport company
“Everything you are seeing here is through the hard work of the man, he doesn’t sleep, he works day and late at night to see that ongoing works are done properly and finished on time. We are very grateful for his hard work and we pledge our support to him in everything he wants to do to make sure that this company survives” he said
