Traders and transport operators at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra recorded low sales in January 2017 during the burial rites of the late Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II.
This was due to the ban on movements in the Ashanti Region on January 19 as part of the burial rites.
The usually busy transport yards housing VIP and Neoplan buses in Accra recorded low bus movements, which had a ripple effect on the traders within the enclave.
The VIP bus terminal, which normally records a minimum of 20 buses moving out to Kumasi daily, had about eight buses leaving Accra on the Thursday of January 19, 2017.
At the Neoplan terminal, about 12 buses moved to Kumasi on Thursday as against the usual 25 buses on a regular day.
Cumulatively, sales for both operators reduced from GH¢16,000 to GH¢3,300 on the Accra-Kumasi route on that day.
Businesses at the transport station came to a halt on Thursday as bus drivers who ply the Accra-Kumasi route ditched their work due to low patronage of their service from Accra to Kumasi.
When Graphic Online visited the VIP station on Friday, January 20, business had bounced back, characterised by the usually long queues, with passengers ready to board buses to Kumasi.
The Manager of the VIP transport, Mr Robin Kumar, said the company recorded normal bus movements during the week but the patronage was very low on the Thursday of the burial rites.
“On a regular day, about 20 to 23 buses move to and from Kumasi, but on Thursday, we only recorded about four to six buses. This movement decreased sales,” he said.
Mr Kumar said the minimum fare to Kumasi cost GH¢25.00 and sales made after each day was between GH¢16,000 and GH¢25,000 but it declined to between GH¢3,000 to GH¢5,000.
He added that there were no parcels or presents coming in on that day as recorded from the previous weeks.
One of the managers at the Neoplan station, Mr Kofi Assuman, said the station had about 10 to 12 buses moving out to Kumasi on that Thursday.
He explained that huge patronage was recorded from the beginning of the week but it started dropping as the days went by.
“On Thursday, bus operations were not efficient. This activity affected sales and the day ended abruptly at noon,” he added.
Mr Assuman explained that at a point bus fares were almost reduced from the regular GH¢25 per ticket to encourage to increase patronage but that did not help.
Adwoa Serwaah, one of the numerous hawkers at the bus stations who sells sachet water and soft drinks, said sales on a normal day was between GH¢400 and GH¢600 but during the week she made as low as between GH¢200 and GH¢300, which was not good enough for her.
Hawkers and shop owners around the bus terminal told the same story and cited the low patronage of buses at the station as the major cause.
They complained of the low sales during the week and also said they moved from the bus stations to other places during the week.
Shop owners also averagely make sales between GH¢600 and GH¢800 in a normal week but recorded low sales between GH¢400 and GH¢500.
After several hours of inactivity during the week of the funeral, most people closed down their shops at noon.
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