27 Buses to be delivered in September

Twenty-seven out of 100 DAF buses for the government's mass transportation programme would be delivered in September, this year, Mr Helmut Clever, the Managing Director of Neoplan Ghana Limited, has announced.

The remaining buses, each with the capacity for seating 61 passengers, will be delivered by the end of March, 2003.

Mr Clever was speaking when Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport, visited the plant in Kumasi to find out about the progress of work.

He told the Deputy Minister that the first consignment of materials for the buses had arrived at the port with the other on the high seas. Mr Clever said building the coaches on DAF chassis in the country has dual advantage of transferring technology and creating jobs. He commended the government for awarding the contract to the company and for not interfering since work commenced.

The Managing Director said the company, which employs between 190 and 200 people could increase the number substantially in the future. Mr E.P. Lockemann, Director and International Liaison Officer of the company, said building the buses in Ghana would allow for their adoption to suit local conditions to avoid frequent breakdowns and would be about 65 percent more robust than those produced in Germany.

The Deputy Minister said the decision to bring down the chassis for the coaches to be built in Kumasi was to keep the company in business. Mr Agyeman-Manu said the programme for the mass transportation system is on course and expressed the hope that Neoplan would deliver the buses on schedule. The Deputy Minister inspected the plant, some of the completed buses and others at different stages of construction.