Some major transport unions in the country are pushing for a review of the road toll policy as a means of getting better funding for the roads and transport sector.
Ahead of the presentation of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy in Parliament set for Wednesday, November 17, 2021, stakeholders in the transport sector have been sharing thoughts on how best government can run the sector with various interventions.
A forum was organised yesterday by the Center for Policy Scrutiny (CPS), under the ‘Balance between Affordability and Funding Public Transport Interventions,’ to draw the government’s attention to the public expectation from the sector.
Major players in the industry like the General Secretary of the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council, Emmanuel Ohene Yeboah, General Secretary of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Godfred Abulbire and an Economist and Research Fellow with the Center for Social Policy Studies, Dr. Kwadwo Poku among others attended the event.
The deliberation mostly centered on taxes on petroleum products, best approach to pay for public road development and whether taxes should be passed on to passengers.
Mr. Abulbire indicated that GPRTU has always maintained that for government to continue to provide good road infrastructure for Ghanaians, there has to be an increase in roads tolls.
He said compared to other countries, Ghana pays the least road tolls and it was about time the government considered an increase to cater for the numerous road projects it is embarking on.
He also suggested a restructuring in our public transport architecture, saying the country’s public transport sector for years has been saddled with mismanagement and lacked constant injection of funds to make it efficient.
He said government must take full control of the sector and implement policies that will see the transformation of the sector.
On his part, Mr. Yeboah was indifferent on the issue of taxes on petroleum products, explaining that much as Ghanaians are bearing the brunt of the increment in fuel prices owing to the increase in crude oil prices on the world market, government also needs revenue to go about its business.
He, however, suggested that though government needs revenue, it will be proper if government considers removing some of the petroleum taxes that have “outlived their usefulness” to ease the burden on Ghanaians.
Dr. Poku said that government should consider subsidizing public transport usage such that it will increase its patronage.
He said government should open the transport sector such that it will invite private participation to decrease the transportation burden on government and free up funds for other critical sectors of the economy.