The Ghana Private Transport Union (GPRTU) has disclosed that vehicle operators in the country came together to moot the idea to cease the collection of road tolls on public roads and bridges. The GPRTU said in a meeting with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport in June early this year, the unions suggested the move to government as a measure to stop revenue leakage.
The General Secretary of GPRTU Godfred Abulbire, speaking to Samuel Mbura on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show explained that the Unions met the Parliamentary Select Committee to address the many concerns of road crashes on the Accra-Kumasi Highway.
“I want you to know that before the Finance Minister had to include this in the budget, it was the proposal of GPRTU and other vehicle operators in June when we met with the Ministry of Transport and suggested to them that the head-on collisions which claim lives would have been solved by coming out with dual carriages from Kumasi to Accra and then Accra to Takoradi. If they had done this, it would have curtailed the many head-on collisions”.
“From that suggestion, we were made to meet the Parliamentary Select Committee and then, same was presented to them. What came out was that government cannot get money to construct dual carriage roads from Accra to Kumasi and then to Takoradi. What we could do was to suggest to them, one way they can get money,” he said.
To replace the funds collected from the toll booths, the GPRTU suggested government places special levies on petroleum products. In the Union’s opinion, the levies on the petroleum products will increase government’s revenue collection as well as plug all leakages that would have occurred at the various toll booths across the country.
Mr. Abulbire added that GPRTU along with the other vehicle operators were invited back by government this month to expand on their ideas about increasing revenue generation. He said the Finance Ministry’s decision to consider their proposal is thoroughly welcomed. “Ken Ofori Atta has acted on our proposal and all of us are satisfied. Now, we can ask government to fix all the roads that we think are critical,” he explained.
Meanwhile, The Minister for Roads and Highways Kwasi Amoako-Attah has issued a directive to stop the collection of road tolls on public roads and bridges. The directive which followed the presentation of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, takes effect from 12am, Thursday November 18th 2021.
A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz| Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
