The raw deal for spare parts dealers who 'won't spare govt in 2020'
- Shop owners at Abossey Okai have been vocal about the rising cost of spare parts
- The spare parts dealers say the NPP government made sweet promises to them during the 2016 elections but they are yet to see any
Spare parts dealers at Abossey Okai in Accra have lamented the rising cost of imports of spare parts products.
According to them, the current government made sweet promises to them during the 2016 elections but they are yet to see any real changes.
Rather, some spare parts dealers said, the situation has even worsened, with the cost of clearing the goods rising.
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In 2016, the then candidate Akufo-Addo paid a visit to the spare parts dealers at Abossey Okai and promised to abolish some duties on imported spare parts.
A year later, after Nana Addo and the NPP had won power, the President visited the spare parts dealers again to assure them that his was still bent on delivering his promise.
However, things have not gone according to plan, as the import duties have been abolished on paper but are yet to reflect in their pockets.
"We heard they have cleared import duties on our parts. We were happy here. We jubilated, did everything. We thought this is the time our business is going to boom,” a shop owner lamented in an interview with Accra-based Joy FM.
"…Can you believe that when we went to clear our goods things were the same as it was. It was even higher..it's a big disappointment for us.”
Another lamented that "my boss is going to clear [goods]. The duty is GH¢5,000 but now they have added GH¢2,500."
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There is an act which is supposed to bring down the price of imports, however, the prices have rather shot up due to new measures introduced by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The GRA has introduced a new system that values spare parts and calculates the cost of clearing them.
This is what has resulted in the prices of spare parts to shoot up, although government has explained that businesses are now paying the true cost of goods they import.
In an attempt to explain the new benchmark further, deputy Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the paperless port system has sealed all the "revenue loopholes" at the ports.
So as it stands, the tax abolishment promise has been fulfilled but a new benchmark for imports from GRA has made it increasingly difficult for spare parts dealers to make profits.
They have, therefore, lamented the situation and want the government to do something about it.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
