Accra, Sept. 8, GNA- Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday announced that Government in collaboration with the Metro Mass Transit (MMT) service would soon introduce a scheduled bus system in the cities for public on pilot basis.

Under the system, buses would move according to time schedules without stopping at almost every bus stop along their routes.

He said the system would begin with public sector workers from their residential areas to their offices and back home, and called for effective cooperation that would promote the implementation of the programme in the coming months.

Vice President Mahama announced this when he inaugurated 50 new VDL Jonckheere Auto Transmission Intra-city buses to augment the fleet of the MMT in Accra.

The buses formed part of the 8.2 million Euro agreement signed by the Governments of Ghana and Belgium to provide 150 new buses to the company before the end of this year.

Earlier this year, the first batch of 50 buses were inaugurated, and with the inauguration of 50 more now, the remaining 50 buses would be received before the close of the year.

Vice President Mahama said Government had embarked on a crash programme to improve on all major roads throughout the country and appealed to various transport couriers to adopt safety measures that would reduce accidents and their attendant carnage on the roads.

He gave the assurance that Government would continue to provide assistance to the company to acquire more buses to serve the public in all the districts, and called on the management to employ new technology that would eliminate fraud in the ticketing system.

Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister for Transport promised to increase the fleet of MMT from their current 700 to 1000 to enable them to serve all the districts in the country.

He commended the German, Dutch and Belgian governments for their tremendous support to the MMT and gave the assurance that such cooperation would continue to be nursed to empower the transport company to be self-reliant. He cautioned the drivers against over-speeding and over-loading as 80 per cent of road accidents in the country were mainly due to human error.

Mr Maxwell Awuku, Acting Managing Director of the Company announced that new depots and terminals would soon be opened in Kumasi, Tamale, Cape Coast, Bolgatanga and Wa among other centres to improve on their operations.

He said the Company was procuring 150 new buses which would be received at the end of the year through their internally generated funds, and appealed to government to facilitate the clearance of those buses from the ports. Alhaji Asuma Banda, a member of the Council of State, who chaired the function, called on the company to institute an accident-free bonus to drivers who would operate throughout the year without accidents to encourage others to drive carefully.