UMARIB GHANA WANT ITS FEES INCREASED (PAGE 29)

Management of Umarib Ghana Limited, a company that enforces road traffic regulations in the Tamale metropolis, has called on the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) to consider increasing the percentage of revenue allocated to it from the proceeds that it generates for the assembly.
It explained that the current 18 per cent of total revenue which the assembly paid to the company from the revenue it generated for the TAMA was woefully inadequate.
The Director of the company, Mr Imoro Adinan Bawa, told the Daily Graphic that in spite of the company’s s efforts at enforcing road safety in the Central Business District (CBD), the various stakeholders were not co-operating to complement the efforts of the Motor Traffic and Transport Union (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service.
“I have 29 boys who formed the taskforce but currently I am left with only six of them because they have left the job because it is no longer lucrative for them, “he said.
According to Mr Bawa, he single-handedly financed the provision of tools such as clamps and other office equipment but the investment was not yielding the desired result due to the inadequate revenue it received from the TAMA.
He also said that initially the company’s taskforce fined drivers who parked wrongly GH¢50 but expressed regret that the assembly had slashed the fines to GH20.
“On the other hand the problem we have with the residents is that they sometimes proved difficult when caught parking wrongly or engaging in acts that contravened the road traffic regulations, ”Mr Bawa said.
He urged the MTTU of the Ghana Police Service to support the company by undertaking effective road safety campaigns to help check indiscipline on the streets of Tamale.
When contacted, the Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director, Mr Mohammed Baba, said activities of the Umarib company were not meant to be a revenue generating one in the first place but rather to ensure safety on the streets of Tamale.
According to the director, the “park and pay system “ being operated by the company which could improve on its revenue base was not yielding the desired results since residents were yet to embrace the system .
He gave the assurance that the assembly would take a critical look at the company’s operations and review the terms under which it was being paid if the need arose.
Mr Baba also expressed concern about the way some staff of the company misconducted themselves, incurring the displeasure of residents.
The company was established in 2006 with the aim of complementing the efforts of the police to bring sanity onto the roads and to reduce accidents in the metropolis.