Former workers of the various toll booths across the country are demanding the reintroduction of toll collections.
They want government to make such an announcement in the 2023 Budget Statement, scheduled to be read in Parliament on November 30, 2022.
The Transport Ministry on November 18, 2021, announced an immediate cessation of the collection of tolls.
The action was taken after government claimed there was chaos at various tollbooths following an announcement the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta made in the 2022 budget on the cessation of such revenue collection.
Speaking to Citi News a year after they were laid off, Secretary to the Ghana Toll Workers Union Edward Duncan said toll workers have been forced back on the streets while others face eviction from their landlords.
“Most of my colleagues are knocking on the doors of companies, but the jobs are not there, so we hope that the Government will understand or know that they made a mistake with that policy [cancellation] and then they have to reverse it and come back.”
“We are hoping and looking at the announcement they will make concerning toll collection. We are keen on that because it has been a year since the tolls were cancelled and there is no livelihood and there is nothing for us,” he lamented.
Many Ghanaians condemned the cancellation and demanded its immediate reversal.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament demanded its reinstatement but the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu praised the cancellation saying it was timely implemented to save lives and properties.
Source: Citinews
