News:
Amoako-Attah
March 5, 2022
Mr. Amoako-Attah, the Minister for Roads and Highways has let the cat out of the bad indicating that the E-Levy would help government to securitize the fund to borrow the needed money to carry out the needed projects in the country.
Speaking on the floor of the House on Friday, March 4, 2022, the minister in responding to a question filed by Kwame Governs Agbodza, Member of Parliament for Adaklu who sought to find out how much revenue was lost following the cessation of the collection of road toll as contained in the Ministry’s press release dated 17th November, 2022 said “there has been no loss of revenue to the Ministry of Roads and Highways since the cessation of the collection of road tolls”.
He said the cessation of road tolls was occasioned by the refusal of road users to pay the tolls since the finance minister presented the budget to the house; a situation that generated some confusion between the road users and the collectors. It was therefore, to safeguard lives and properties at the toll both that the directive was given for the suspension of the collection of the tolls.
Again, with the approval of the 2022 budget, road tolls have been zero rated and there would be no revenue loss in 2022 from road tolls. Mr Agbodza, would however, not accept the minister’s answer and insisted that the period between the day the budget was presented to the day it was approved left between 25-30 days hence monies have been lost.
Mr. Amoako-Attah further assured that government is committed to using all forms of revenue into the road fund to build road infrastructure in the country including tolls. He said with the four sources of funds into the road fund, fuel-levy contributed the highest. “Mr Speaker, the almost 2billion Ghana cedis expected into the fund, fuel-levy alone contribute not less than 94 per cent. The other 3 sources from the tollbooth, DVLA sources and vehicles that transcends on the corridors of our country contribute merely 6 per cent.
“He noted that the government in its wisdom has proposed the passage of the E-levy to bring in more revenue to build the road infrastructure of our country for all of us. “So government is looking forward to the passage of the E-levy that would bring in greater revenue that would be securitized and then used to raise bond if possible, to build the road sector infrastructure.
And assured that, it is government’s direction and policy to bring in a better form of collection because the toll revenue is built-in with the proposed E-Levy.
Ghanamps.com