The Chief Executive Officer of the Coastal Development Authority, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, has said the newly introduced quadricycle which is expected to replace okada in some areas in the southern zone was secured at GH¢24,000 each.

According to him, the authority made the purchases from India to serve the interest of poor Ghanaians living in deprived communities in the southern zone.

In an attempt to evade questions about the hire-purchase agreement and costs involved, Ahmed Shaib said on CitiNews’ Point Blank that; “we have a tracking system. We also have the drivers comprehensive insurance…I bought the car at GH¢24,000 for one from India”.

In spite of the costs, he said the state is not in any way fixed on turning the programme into a profit venture but to solely alleviate poverty and create more employment avenues.

Ahmed Shaib added “The cash point is not for us to make any profit, but we want to empower those commercial drivers.”

Explaining the mode of operations, Ahmed Shaib said the specialized vehicles will be given to persons who have knowledge and skills in driving on a hire-purchase basis.

In short, he remarked that they would operate like ride hailing app, Uber with centralized operations where drivers can be tracked and all money go directly to CODA.

When asked about the possibility of duplicity of functions between the CODA and MASLOC as regards the roll out of the specialized four-seater quadricycle, he said he did not see anything wrong with any such occurrence.

“There’s nothing wrong if we’re empowering people all over the stretch at the end of the day if MACLOC is doing,” he further explained.