Country Manager for Treepz Ghana, Isidore Kpotufe, has said the introduction of electric vehicles to the market will create an additional economy by creating employment for a majority of individuals within the automobile industry.
According to him, the electric-bus programme that is being deployed will offer training to some mechanics to enable them handle faults which the vehicles develop in the future.
“Treepz means job creation. Because as we empower more people to use buses we deploy on the road, it means that we are investing directly or indirectly in job creation for drivers, for value added service providers like mechanics; and especially with the electric-bus programme that we are currently deploying, we are creating an additional economy. People will need to be trained on how to handle electric vehicles,” he said during a press conference to launch an electric-bus programme.
The electric-bus programme, according to Treepz Ghana, is meant to provide a more sustainable way of public transport for passengers in the country and address climate change issues.
Speaking about the lack of policies that remains a challenge for the initiative’s success, he said it gives room for innovation to take place – unlike other countries where policymakers do not create an enabling environment for such programmes.
“I think that the lack of policy is an opportunity to innovate; and that is where we must say the governance or policy environment is not stifling innovation. In other markets, what would have happened is that you’d receive a letter from government saying they have stopped operating the service. But that was not the case in Ghana, which is why I believe it is an enabling environment,” he stated.
The electric-bus programme, according to Mr. Kpotufe, will help in the reduction of air pollution – which means that the hospitals will not be filled with diseases related to air pollution and account for 40 percent of the ailments treated in hospitals.
On his part, the General Secretary of Ghana Private Road Transport Union of Trade Union Congress (GPRTU), Godfred Abulbire, stated that the association is in support of the initiative. He added that after their encounter with the group, they realised it is an initiative which needs to be embraced.
He therefore encouraged the setting-up of more charging-booths across the country to help using the vehicles to become very efficient.
Business Treepz
As part of the press conference, Treepz Ghana launched the ‘Business Treepz’ – which is a tailored bus transportation scheme for corporates, schools and churches, among others.
