Road contractors call for increase in fuel levy
The Association of Road Contractors, Ghana has called on the government to increase the levy on fuel price build-up from its current six per cent to 18 per cent.
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That, it said, would enable the government to generate the needed funds for the maintenance of bad roads.
According to the National Vice Chairman of the association, Mr Joseph Ebo Hewton, since 2005, the fuel levy had remained the same, making it difficult for the government to generate the required funds.
Speaking at a training workshop for members of the association in Accra on Monday, he said the policy on fuel levy, if not revisited, could tie the hands of the government in raising funds for road projects.
The five-day workshop is aimed at equipping members of the association with the tools and skills needed to enhance their work.
Members are expected to undergo practical and theoretical training, in the areas of computer literacy and how to bid for contracts .
Mr Hewton said “most of the roads that have developed cracks have been left unrepaired because there is no money for government to repair them,” he said.
He also raised issues with the delay on the part of the government in paying local road contractors, which, he said, had led to the contractors accumulating huge debts from their bankers.
The situation, Mr Hewton said, had also led to many of the contractors folding up their businesses.
He said since most of the contractors depended mainly on loans from their bankers to undertake projects, any delays in paying them for work done on the agreed date would mean that the re-payments of the loans they took from banks would come with higher interest.
That, Mr Hewton said, had also forced most of the road contractors to bid low for contracts because “they attempt to use the little money they have to undertake those projects”.
“The effect is that we often see poor roads constructed and others abandoned because contractors realise that the funds meant for the projects were not enough. This causes the nation to look for another means of raising funds to solve the problem,” Mr Hewton said.
By Dominic Moses Awiah/Daily Graphic/Ghana