Regional News of Sunday, 1 December 2013

Source: Independent

Drivers angry with KIA guards

Commercial drivers and some private drivers who operate at the Kotoka International Airport, the nation’s premier airport, have vehemently turned down offers to take passengers to the airport.

It is for a simple reason that airport guards harass commercial drivers who pick and drop passengers at the airport.

Dropping passengers at the airport doesn’t even take up to five minutes yet the moment a commercial driver parks to drop a passenger, these airport guards quickly come in to arrest the driver and demand huge amounts of monies before releasing the car to the driver.

One interesting aspect of this whole saga is the fact that they don’t have specified amount they charge which means they charge any amount.

Investigations conducted by this reporter revealed that the airport guards charge two hundred cedis upwards if a driver is found culpable.

Failure to pay the amount they charge means the car would be ceased.

A visit to a garage just around the airport area saw some fleet of cars both commercial and private that have been seized as a result of drivers’ unwillingness to pay what they consider as exorbitant fees.

Another interesting twist to this whole saga is the fact that these guards discriminate against local drivers since other nationals who commit the same “offence” are allowed to go free

The incident is gradually preventing many commercial drivers from plying the airport route for fear of being harassed by these guards.