The Ghana Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has sent a petition to President John Evans Atta Mills to suspend the introduction of the Rapid Bus Transport System (RTB System) because it will throw its members out of business and also worsen the unemployment situation in the country. But the Director of Communications at the RTB Secretariat, Kwadwo Antwi, has dismissed the allegation made by the GPRTU. In an interview with Joy News, he said “We are talking about a system that will move people faster. The very people we plan for and think about. We understand that people have to sit in traffic for hours just to get to one location. It does not help anybody and it does not help the growth of the economy. We are seeking to move them faster. We are putting buses on these particular lanes so that people can move faster”. “What we are seeking to do is to get the same operators who are operating today to own and operate this system. It is not the intention of the government to buy any buses and run them so that anybody will be put out of job,” he added. Asked if commercial drivers have to buy these buses to be part of the RBTS system, he said it is exactly so and they are on the verge of procuring a consultant who will help the operators through a series of programmes that will help them form businesses or cooperatives so that they can acquire the appropriate finances to buy and operate these buses. Kwadwo Antwi also said they are seeking to do a registration for all the drivers to know who is operating in the system and they will do this with the help of the district assemblies. They will not register individual drivers but only those who are in unions so they can be identified. He concluded, “It is those who are not in the unions who are agitating”. A lecturer at the Central University College, Dr. Daniel Sedoh, agreed the RBT system will help improve the traffic situation in the country but the government must get all stakeholders to buy into the idea that the country needs the system. He said, “I want to see it as a profit venture and the government must make sure that it is working smoothly, it is running efficiently; just not on time but am getting returns for my investment”. Story by Aglanu Dela Ernest/Myjoyonline/Ghana