Scrap road tolls – Transport Committee Chair

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport has called for the scrapping of payment of road tolls and in the country.

Samuel Ayeh-Paye said the payment of the road toll can be replaced with just GHp1 increment of the Energy Levy and that can take care of the tolls that are collected at the various toll booths in the country.

The Member of Parliament for Ayensuano Constituency in the Eastern Region made the call in an interview with Onua FM’s Yen Sempa hosted by Bright Kwasi Asempa on Friday.

Mr. Ayeh-Paye was commenting on Roads Minister Kwasi Amoako-Atta’s charge to road toll collectors in the country to insist on taking tolls from even ministers of state.

“I have heard some people get to the booths and they say I’m managing director or that, and so they just pass. All the toll booth collectors in this country have been instructed that every single individual in Ghana, no matter who are you, you are to pay tolls, if you are a minister you have to pay, if you are managing director you are to pay. I’m the Roads Minister now by the grace of God, anywhere I pass, you can ask my driver I pay my tolls,” the Minister told the media on Thursday.

Mr. Ayeh-Paye said “the toll booths create traffic. More than 50% of the road tolls don’t get into the Road Fund but if we can add just one pesewa to the energy levy and remove all the toll booths, it will help”.

He added: “It will also help eliminate the wastage in the collection of the road tolls.”

“Once you go to the License Office to do your road worthy and also buy fuel, you pay the road toll,” the MP explained.

He also suggested that, elsewhere, “the road toll is just like the prepaid credit and it should not be like what we have in Ghana. We can also do it now that we have the digital addressing system”.