Ghanaians urged to support new levy on LPG

Government has advised road users to support recommendations for a new levy to be placed on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

The minister of roads and transport insists that it was the readily solution which could curb the trend of particularly commercial drivers switching their vehicles from diesel and petrol use to LPG.

“[Government strongly believe that is available solution to arrest the situation and it is our prayer that consideration and support will be given for a levy to be placed on LPG used as fuel for road transportation],” the minister asserted.

Mr. Joe Gidisu said this when addressing a public forum on road fund organized by the Road Fund Management Board in Tamale in the Northern Region Thursday. The forum was aimed at discussing ways of financing road maintenance in the country, as well as well as sensitizing the public and stakeholders on the role of the road fund.

According to the minister, the road fund, which derives its revenue from the Fuel Levy, Tolls and DVLA Fees, serves as the main source of financing road maintenance in the country.

Continuing, he revealed that statistics have shown over the years that it has only been able to provide 60 per cent of the resources needed to carry out road maintenance in the country.

“… So the question we have to ask ourselves where the backlog of 40 per cent resources is required to carry out the rest of the work,” Mr. Gidisu retorted. Against this backdrop, the minister noted that government is compelled to solicit for funds from other sources to salvage the situation hence the need to introduce a levy on the LPG.

“Another area of funding which government has been giving serious consideration to is the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) and the Maintain, Operate and Transfer (MOT) concepts of public private partnership arrangements,” the minister revealed.

While urging drivers to offer their unflinching to support to enable government introduce the levy, Mr. Gidisu assured Ghanaians that funds accrued would be put in judicious use to ensuring that roads in the country are properly maintained.

Mr Gidisu said as part of the government’s infrastructural development programme, “Ghanaians are witnessing acceleration in the development of our nation’s roads infrastructure”.

On this score, he revealed: “a national road network of about 39,000 kilometers as at 2001, is now over 67,000 kilometers with the road condition mix improving from 27 per cent good, 17 per cent fair and 56 per cent bad as in 2001 to 42 per cent good, 28 per cent fair and 30 per cent bad as at the end of 2010”.

On her part, Madam Mercy Payne, Principal Engineer at the Ghana Highway Authority, who spoke on “Road Misuse and its Effects” bemoaned what she described as gross disregard of road signs by road users adding that the nation could only move forward road regulations are properly adhered to. She, as a result, recommended the enforcement of road traffic regulations, community involvement in project execution amongst other measures to prolong the lifespan of the country’s roads infrastructure.**