The Kotokoraba branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) says it has no right to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages at lorry terminals, adding that it's the responsibility of the metropolitan assembly to do so.
Mr Sam Raymond Loo, secretary to the local GPRTU, said the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA) should enact bye-laws to stop the sale of alcoholic drinks at the lorry stations.
He told the Ghana News Agency that all shop owners operating at the stations had paid rent to the CCMA as legal tenants.
Mr Loo said the leadership of the Union had put measures in place to stop drivers from taking alcohol while on duty.
"We check our drivers before they leave the station, and any driver found drinking is not allowed to move the car; his passengers are then given to a new vehicle and the defaulting driver sanctioned, or where the issue is severe, sacked", he emphasized.
When the GNA got to the Tantri and Pedu stations, it found out that there were drinking spots inside the station where alcoholic beverages were being sold freely.
Mr Justice Amoah a member of the Regional Road Safety Committee agreed that the GPRTU had no right to eject sellers of alcoholic beverages from the lorry stations.
Mr Amoah, who is also the Planning Officer at the CCMA, said shop operators at the stations rented the space under the pretext of selling soft drinks only to add alcoholic beverages later.
He said drunk-driving had been identified as a major cause of road accidents.