Hawkers who sell along the Kasoa toll booth have expressed their displeasure over the abolishment of the payment of tolls.
The hawkers speaking to Rainbow Radio’s Banahene Agyemang described the decision as terrible.
According to them, they will be out of business.
When Rainbow Radio visited the toll booth, the usual traffic that characterized the area was not the same.
The traders indicated that they have been deprived of their livelihood.
To them, the situation would rather increase the rate of unemployment in the country.
The government has abolished all road tolls.
The decision was contained in the 2022 budget presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.
The minister said the proposal is to enhance productivity and reduce environmental pollution.
“Mr Speaker, our roads need fixing. Our roads are being fixed. It is true that more roads have been fixed and are being fixed over the last five years than any relative period in the entire history of our nation. We even want to do a lot more and this budget will cater for this,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.
“That is why for decades, government after government imposed and maintained tolls on some public roads to raise funds for road construction and maintenance. This is the situation in many countries.”
“However, over the years, the tolling points have become unhealthy market centres, led to heavy traffic on our roads, lengthened travel time from one place to another, and impacted negatively on productivity. The congestion generated at the tolling points, besides creating these inconveniences, also leads to pollution in and around those vicinities.
“To address these challenges, the Government has abolished all tolls on public roads and bridges. This takes effect immediately the Budget is approved. The toll collection personnel will be reassigned. The expected impact on productivity and reduced environmental pollution will more than off-set the revenue forgone by removing the tolls,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
