The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has urged the newly constituted Governing Board of the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL) to bring their expertise to bear to help turn around the fortunes of the transport company.

The minister believed the challenges confronting the transport company required wise counsel and proper direction and entreated the board to provide that support.

Mr Asiamah made these remarks in an address read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Frederick Obeng Adom at the inauguration of a nine-member Governing Board of MMTL in Accra, last Tuesday.

Chaired by Kofi Ahenkorah Marfo, the board has Mr Albert Adu-Boahene, Mr Francis Kofi-Nunoo, Mr Robert Karikari-Darko, and Mrs. Bernadette Addo Dankwa as members.

The rest are Dr Joseph Okine Afrane, Nana Yaw Mantey, Mr Marcus Deo Dake, and Mada Angelina T. A. Mensah.

Mr Asiamah noted that over the years, the company had gone through several challenges, including the drastic reduction in operational fleet, frequent breakdowns and rising operational cost.

“It is our expectation that the new board will take up this challenge to ensure that the company is revived to the level of winning back its share of the market and expand its services”, he said.

The minister also entreated the board to work in unison with management of the company to address the increasing number of agitations among MMTL’s workforce and ensure industrial harmony.

“These agitations if not addressed could potentially derail the ongoing efforts” he added.

Between 2018 and 2019, he said the government had supported the MMTL with a total of 100 new intercity buses to revamp its operations and expressed the ministry’s commitment to pursue other arrangements to procure more buses to augment its fleet.

However, there would be the need to improve infrastructure such as terminals and maintenance workshops, he said and urged the board to support management to deliver on its mandate.

“I will entreat the board and management to work as a team to realise the objectives of the company. As a matter of caution, I wish also to remind the board that under the governance framework, they are under the supervision of the ministry and for that matter, must report directly to the ministry no matter the magnitude of the issues and we will do our best to resolve it”

“I operate an open-door policy, and members are free to knock on my door as and when you require my attention to discuss issues of importance to the development and improvement of MMTL’s operations”, he noted.

Chairman of the board, Kofi Ahenkorah Marfo, expressed the board’s appreciation to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for nominating the members to serve

“As a board, we are aware of the huge challenge thrown to us as a result of the matters we will be faced with to resolve and surmount. We, however, pledge that we are ready to face these challenges squarely and deal appropriately with them”, he noted.

“We promise to work in unison with all stakeholders of the company including the government as a whole, the Ministry of Transport, shareholders, employees, passengers among others to lift up the company to its rightful place”, he said.