● A rickety trotro

 Moving from one des­tination to the other requires a means of transportation and since everyone cannot afford a car or a motorcycle, they choose to use public trans­port such as taxis and buses, especially ‘trotro’.

The trotro carries an average of 15 to 20 people depending on the type of bus and it is quite cheaper and convenient as compared with other means of public trans­port. The trotro can be very uncomfortable, especially when it is over loaded, but that is what most Ghanaians prefer and they don’t mind being squeezed in the bus.

Although trotro is the preferred means of trans­port, it is sometimes not safe to use, especially those which are rusty, old and faulty.

As passengers suffer such plights, road users also get their fair share of the cake. Most trotros have their exhaust pipes trailing with thick smoke, thus polluting the environment and endan­gering road users, especially those who drive right behind them.

Road users are normally advised to have their cars checked if they are road worthy, and it is of no doubt that these cars have not been checked, and even if they have the certificates issued to them, they are either expired or illegal. The police must, therefore, make conscious efforts to check these rickety vehicles. There must be a way to stop these faulty trotros from plying our roads.

Josephine Nyorkor Ntreh.

Student, Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).