This year’s Christmas is the worse – Travellers lament

On December 24, 2022, 3:19 PM

The festive season is here again, and many Ghanaians are travelling to various destinations to mark the Christmas holidays.

For some commuters, Christmas eve meant no time wasted staying at home.

Hence, they made their way to the bus terminals as early as 7 am to catch the first few buses to travel.

A visit to the VIP bus station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle last Friday and Saturday saw a number of passengers waiting for buses to convey them to Kumasi, Cape Coast and Sunyani.

Some of the passengers who spoke to The Ghana Report said despite the economic hardships, Christmas is best celebrated with family,y thus the need to travel and spend some time with loved ones.

“There is no money in the system, but that doesn’t mean we should not meet our family. We have to, in any way we can, get the money and go and meet them.

“I come from Sunyani, because of work I have been away for a very long time so I’m visiting my mother to celebrate Christmas with her. In fact, throughout my life, this year’s Christmas has been the worst of all. Things are hard economically; we don’t have money, but we need to find a way to survive,” a passenger said.

“I’m coming to Dubai and travelling to Sunyani to celebrate Christmas with my family. It’s been a while since I visited them. I pray and hope to get home safely and have fun with my family,” another passenger said.

Meanwhile, the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has launched a road safety campaign for this year’s Christmas and New Year festivities, stressing the need for all stakeholders to play active roles in preventing road crashes.

Dubbed: “Operation Stay Alive”, the campaign emphasises the need for drivers and other road users to be disciplined and obey road traffic regulations to ensure that no souls are lost to accidents.

The initiative was launched in collaboration with stakeholders such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), the Motor Traffic and Transport Division (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC), the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Street Sense, Bloomberg, as well as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport.

The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, who launched the campaign, called on the NRSA to take the campaign on road safety to churches, mosques, marketplaces and all public gatherings to ensure that this year’s festive season is accident-free.

Mr Asiamah urged members of the public to be ambassadors of road safety by not involving themselves in irresponsible behaviours that could cause accidents on the road.

Story By Sandra Adei Djanie