STC unveils ultramodern vehicle testing facility

State transport company, STC Intercity Coaches Limited yesterday unveiled a state-of-the-art Vehicle Testing Centre at its Accra office for the testing of the road worthiness of vehicles in the Circle-Kaneshie-Industrial Area catchment area.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Managing Director of STC, Nana Akomea said, “A lot of investment has gone into this facility. There is no facility like this in this catchment area.

“Now there is no excuse for your vehicle not to have a road worthy certificate.”

He also revealed that the over $4 million facility has the capacity to test buses and trucks.

He, therefore, addressed recalcitrant truck and bus drivers, saying, “Now, buses and trucks have no more excuse to not have all the components that make a vehicle road worthy.”

With this, he admonished officers of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to be vigilant in inspecting the road worthiness of vehicles.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Prince Adusei told the assembly that “since LI 210 was passed in 2012, we’ve had a number of Private Vehicle Testing Stations. This is the 26th, with four more on the way. We have over 50 applications pending, but we won’t rush into accrediting.”

Aside from this new testing station, he revealed that the Accra Digital Centre will soon be accredited to give out licences, and this will mean that “there is no excuse for any vehicle or driver to not be tested for nonexistence of a facility.”

Board Chairman of STC, Samuel Oppong admonished drivers to regularly test their vehicles, for their own safety, saying, “You can die any time you’re driving, so take your car for testing and repairs for your own safety.”

Accidents are only caused by bad cars and bad drivers. With this facility, buses will have no excuse. 20 buses can be accommodated at a go.

Also present at the event was the past Managing Director of STC, Samuel Nuamah Donkor, who commended his successor, Nana Akomea, for continuing with a project he had initiated.

He said, “It’s not easy to see people continue with projects they’ve inherited for obvious reasons.

“It would have been a sad reflection if this project had not seen the light of day,” he reckoned.

The new facility is expected to start commercial operations next month.