Today in History: Over GH¢200,000 lost daily - Toll collectors petition Parliament to reverse ban

After the government announced the suspension of road tolls on Ghana's roads, the toll workers lamented the devastating impact on their livelihoods.

They noted that the country loses lots of money due to the suspension of the polls.

“They promised to reassign us to other jobs. But we don’t trust them on that. If there were jobs available, they would have given us new jobs. The Minister is a liar and we are disappointed in him," one of the workers said.

Read the full story originally published on December 1, 2021, by rainbowradioonline

Several toll workers across the country on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, staged a demonstration protesting against the decision of the government to cease the collection of tolls.

The aggrieved workers stated that the decision has rendered them jobless, a situation that is affecting them and their dependents.

To them, the directive by the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta was terrible.

The Minister who came under fire issued a directive instruction that the collection of road and bridge tolls at all locations nationwide should be halted effective from 12am on Thursday, November 18, 2021.

His directive came after the Minister presented the budget and disclosed that the collection of tolls would be scrapped.

But the aggrieved workers are not happy and want the government to reconsider the decision.

They marched to parliament and presented a petition to the legislative body.

“They promised to reassign us to other jobs. But we don’t trust them on that. If there were jobs available, they would have given us new jobs. The Minister is a liar and we are disappointed in him," one of the workers said.

Another alleged that they have not been paid over the past four months.

The Secretary of the Ghana toll workers group, Edward Duncan, presented a petition to Parliament on behalf of the group.

The petition was received by the Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Habib Iddrisu, and Deputy Minority Chief Whip Ahmed Ibrahim.

The two leaders said the petition had come at a time parliament was still considering the budget statement.

They assured them their concerns would be addressed.

Meanwhile, the workers' leader, Mr. Ernest Antwi speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem said the work of toll workers generated a lot of money for the country.

He said Ghana is losing several millions of Ghana cedis.

He said their work generates more than GH¢200,000 daily and the directive from the Minister has deprived Ghana of some revenue.

Watch the latest episode of BizTech below: