From the last quarter of last year till date, the topical issue in the public transport, health, safety, national security equation has been a Toyota brand dubbed, Voxy.
This Toyota brand has become so notorious and a household vocabulary for everything bad, unfortunate, gory, misfortune on our road network – from Accra to Paga, Aflao to Hamile, Bawku to Elubo, the Voxy ‘aroma’ is everywhere.
TECHNICAL WORKING COMMITTEE (TWC)
Public outcry on the mess and havoc being wrecked on innocent and ignorant citizenry by these voxy vehicles culminated in the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) setting up a Committee to delve into the technical history amongst others of these vehicles and make appropriate recommendations thereof.
l must admit that this is not the first time in the history of the public transport sector that such an uproar has reared its ugly head, but it seems to me that this is the loudest and, again, drawn so much public fury.
HIGHLIGHTS OF TWC FINDINGS
– That the vehicle dubbed, Voxy, was specifically manufactured to suit Japanese market and road conditions. This included, but were not limited to, its usage (only on paved roads), thus attached the acronym JDM, to wit, Japanese Domestic Market.
– That all Voxy vehicles whose production has since ceased were RHD to reflect it domestic nature. Not even one was produced with Left Hand steering (LHD).
– That there is a complete ban on the importation of Right Hand Drive (RHD) vehicles into the country called Ghana, save under the expressed permission of the Minister –
Kindly permit me to delve into the history of this amendment. The Kufuor administration imported RHD double decker buses into the country contrary to law (that was the peak of lawlessness on the part of the State). The uproar that greeted that violation of the law by the State triggered the amendment of the law to make prior approval by the Minister a prerequisite for its importation. L must emphasize here that, the law is still in force.
It follows that all Voxy vehicles roaming our streets were imported on the blind side of the law. That there is currently no guidelines and or certification for changing RHD vehicles to Left Hand Drive (LHD) in Ghana. That flowing therefrom, the road worthiness of Voxy vehicles in Ghana is suspect, cannot be guaranteed and poses real danger to commuters.
That over Eight Thousand (8,000) pieces of Voxy had been imported into the country and still counting. These are without the prior approval of the Minister. This assertion incriminates both former and present Ministers of Transport, the Custom, Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), NRSA, Ministry of Trade, Driver & Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and indeed, National Security.
That from the technical, mechanical, engineering etc point of view, once the chassis of a vehicle is either touched, torched, elongated, tampered with, cut etc., it ceases to be the vehicle manufactured by the original manufacturer.
Granting, may l respectfully ask DVLA, which is endowed with salaried technicians and Engineers and had a representative on the TWC, what type and brand do they ascribe to the “Voxys” they have and are registering – Is it “Toyota” Voxy, DVLA Voxy, Killer Voxy, Ghana Voxy, Reset Voxy or what? This is a serious indictment and no serious country must gloss over for it has dire social, economic, brand/copyright infringement, false public record, safety ramifications.
At best, DVLA is engaged in an illegality, FALSE CERTIFICATION and the National Insurance Commission (NIC) cannot escape blame either for insuring vehicles with false certification – they may be oblivious of this crime and per this piece, respectfully put them on active notice.
Despite this stunning revelation by TWC of negligence, dereliction of duty, sheer incompetence, complexity, sleeping on the job, criminality none of the bodies ‘affected! and or ‘infested’ have taken the trouble to publicly apologize to Ghanaians for the mess they have created and caused the commuting public and by extension, the citizenry.
Nor is it all for none had also taken the trouble to remedy their image. Instead, they jointly and collectively have had the audacity, or yes, temerity to engage in further criminality and compounding the crime.
DVLA is still shamelessly registering these small monsters despite the revealing information at their disposal, NRSA sitting aloof and adopting the wait and see tactics, aka, “After all, it’s God who gives and takes”, and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) who have and are blatantly refusing to apply the law – Who Cares?
Other institutions in the fray includes, GSA which has gone mute thereon for reasons best known only to their Oponglo office, the lame duck Ministry of Transport lurking around as if nothing is at stake, the Motor Transport and Traffic Division (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service busily collecting and collating fatalities data thereon which does not change the equation and the Mother of all the Sinners, National Security which seems not to have the slightest clue of and about human security nor found a place for same in its vocabulary.
As posited by President Obama which has been paraphrased by Nii Moi Thompson of National Planning Commission fame recently, we need our institutions to not only work but be up and doing.
I rest my Fractured Peace.
Written by Osei Kwabena Esq., Etia Street, Asante Effiduase
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance
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