Gomoa East: Two injured in clash between tipper drivers and Assembly taskforce

Two people were injured in a clash between tipper drivers and an assembly taskforce over the payment of a quarry development fund in Gomoa Ojobi in the Central Region.

The quarry development fund was introduced in 2021 with the objective of using the money to develop communities where these quarries operate. Tipper drivers were mandated to pay between GH¢80 and GH¢100 per trip to the task force for onward payment to the assembly coffers.

However, the Protoa tipper truck drivers from Kasoa rejected the move and failed to pay the said amount to the assembly during their collection yesterday. The taskforce came this morning to collect the monies, resulting in a bloody clash that left two people injured.

According to Benjamin Ankomah, leader of the Protoa Tipper Drivers Association, the drivers were not aware of the new amounts.

“The taskforce came in this morning and engaged our members in a fight over payments of the quarry development fund. They forced our members to pay an amount of GH¢8 to GH¢100 per trip. But the agreement we had with them was to pay GH¢15. Our members have been brutalised by the taskforce. We have taken some to the Awutu Bereku health centre,” Ankomah said.

District Chief Executive for Gomoa East Solomon Darko Quarm told Citi News that the levy has been sanctioned by the assembly but denied the allegations that the taskforce from the assembly physically assaulted the drivers.

“It is not true that our revenue task force assaulted the Tipper Drivers. It was the drivers who attacked our men instead. What money the task force is collecting has been sanctioned by the Assembly. A driver of the task force was severely injured and has been rushed to the hospital. The collectors are operating within the mandate given to them,” the DCE said.

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