Accra, Feb. 1, GNA - The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on Thursday called on all taxi and rental car owners to register their vehicles with the Assembly as directed and also conform to directives concerning the wearing of uniforms.

Mr Ali Baba Bature, Special Assistant to the Mayor, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Accra that the Assembly had set Monday, February 5, as the effective date for the compliance of the directives. After this date, there would be a grace period up to February 12.

He said directives were given last year by the AMA to all taxi drivers that they would wear sea blue shirt and dark blue trousers as their uniform. They were also to register their vehicles with the Assembly for special serial numbers.

Mr Bature said any taxi driver, who failed to comply with the directives after the grace period, would not be allowed to operate in the Metropolis. He would be arrested and prosecuted.

He urged all taxi and rental car owners to send their vehicles to the Accra Metropolitan Guards Unit for the registration and embossment of the special serial numbers, which would be made up of only three digits to be embossed with reflectors on both sides of the front doors to make identification easy even at night.

He said the AMA had earmarked 600 million cedis to subsidise the exercise to bring down the cost of each embossment to 450,000 cedis. "Sikkens Ghana Limited has been contracted to do the embossment and they have also given us a 25 per cent rebate," he said. Mr Bature explained that the action by AMA was aimed at maintaining sanity in the taxi business and further enhancing security for both patrons and owners of such vehicles and called for maximum cooperation to ensure a successful exercise.

"In the era of numerous armed robberies and snatching of taxis from drivers, it would help the Police to trace such vehicles and also retrieve other lost items.

He said all the serial numbers including all documentations about the vehicles would be computerized and copies sent to all the security agencies to ensure easy access and networking with the AMA. Mr Bature underscored the importance of the exercise and called on all Ghanaians to assist and cooperate to ensure its success. He explained that apart from the fact that the nation must put its house in order, as a lot of visitors would be visiting the country during the 50th Independence anniversary, the action was also important for the tourism industry.