Remove all tollbooths: NRSA, engineers tell ministry
The Ministry of Roads and Highways has come under pressure to demolish all the 38 tollbooths across the country which are not in use to prevent accidents and optimise road safety.
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) and the consulting engineers association have called on the ministry to remove the tollbooths once it has no use for them.
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In a letter last month, the NRSA advised the sector Minister, Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta, to immediately take steps to remove all toll stations around the country to keep the roads safer for drivers and pedestrians.
A source at the authority told the Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity that the letter to the ministry was to provide technical advice on what should be done to the tollbooths, following a directive by the government to scrap the collection of tolls on all roads and bridges.
"We have written officially to the Minister of Roads and Highways to remove them to ensure road safety, so we hope that the ministry does something about it immediately,” it said.
Aside from the advice, the President of the Ghana Consulting Engineers Association, Mr Magnus Lincoln Quarshie, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the presence of the tollbooths posed safety and security threats to road users.
Insecurity
Beyond destroying the roads, he said, there were security implications for keeping the booths on the roads and not using them for the purpose for which they were constructed.
"We provide infrastructure for a purpose, so generally as we don't have need for them, we have to properly discard them," he said.
Mr Quarshie, who is also a transportation expert, however, added that the demolition of the booths must come with a redesign of the roads on which they sat.
He explained that the tollbooths had become packing lots for trucks, especially those transiting to landlocked countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso, saying that the presence of such trucks would deteriorate the stretch of roads where the tollbooths were located.
Response
When contacted, officials at the Ministry of Roads and Highways said a decision had been taken to decommission the structures, but he could not confirm the scheduled date for the demolition.
The Head of Public Affairs at the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Mr Cecil Wentum, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that a unit under the ministry was taking steps to demolish the tollbooths.
"Because they are not in use, steps are being taken to decommission all the tollbooths around the country for safety, and I can confirm that the decision has been taken,” he said.
Uncertainty
However, a source at the ministry told the Daily Graphic that it was uncertain of the date for the demolition of the booths because of the fate of the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy).
It said with the absence of an alternative source of income to finance projects in the roads sector, including maintenance works, the government was contemplating the reintroduction of the road tolls.
"Because of the state of the passage of the E-Levy Bill, we are not sure of getting any money into the Road Fund. So we are waiting for the passage of the bill, and then we can go ahead to demolish the booths," the source indicated.
Background
The directive to scrap the collection of tolls in the country took effect from November 18, last year, when policemen from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) were stationed at the various booths to ensure the cessation of the collection and facilitate smooth passage.
That followed the presentation of the 2022 Budget to Parliament, which announced the introduction of the E-Levy.
