To improve road infrastructure across the region, the government is attempting to introduce an upward adjustment of existing road tolls.
While delivering the government’s budget speech to Parliament on Friday, Caretaker Finance Minister Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu declared that the review would be aligned with current market rates.
“Mr. Speaker, the government will review existing road tolls and match them with new market rates in order to sustain the improvements on our roads. As we aim to transform our road and infrastructure sector in the post-COVID period, this will be part of the mechanism for fostering burden-sharing,” he said.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister also announced that the government would amend the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2018 (Act 983), which regulates the setting of rates and tolls, by the end of the year.
This is “to allow for an automatic annual adjustment that will be pegged to the previous year’s average annual inflation as reported by the Ghana Statistical Service,” he explained.
Kwasi Amoako-Attah, Ghana’s Minister of Roads and Highways, previously claimed that raising existing road tolls for vehicles is the most reliable way to meet demand for road repair, maintenance, and potential new constructions to boost infrastructure in the country’s road sector.
Should his reappointment be confirmed, he mentioned during his vetting in Parliament that one of the policies he will introduce is to ensure that road tolls go up slightly as soon as possible.
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“If I get approval, it’ll be one of the first things I do. Mr. Amoako-Attah suggested, “There will be a plan to raise the toll fee, and I will carry it to this house [Parliament] for help.”
The then-Minister-designate argued that data available to him indicate that Ghana is the only country in the world that pays the lowest toll rate, and that Ghanaians must be willing to pay more to benefit from good roads, just as other countries do.
“According to research conducted in my Ministry, the average toll rate is about a dollar. A dollar is roughly GHS6.00 in Ghana, but people pay 50 pesewas as a road toll.”
Despite the public outcry that followed the last increase in the country’s road toll, Mr. Amoako-Atta claimed that he is still ready to practice his unwavering commitment to see to the effective implementation of his proposal via parliamentary approval.
“There was such a ruckus in this country the last time tolls were raised. We’ve all seen what happened in this country when drivers announced a strike. Will Ghanaians be able to pay a higher road toll, as is the case in other countries? We have the cheapest rate. In the meantime, we need decent highways. Ghanaians should be willing to pay for good roads, and if given the chance, I will do so,” he said.
SOURCE: ATLFMNEWSONLINE
